Chaos With Some Love
by smilingbookworm95
Summary: This story is set in high school. There are other things to worry about than tennis like finals. Add this with Sakuno, Ann, the girl Seigaku regular members and some study sessions and there is a lot of chaos! Bad at summaries plz just read and review!
1. Chapter 1: FINALS!

**Discliamer: Don't own Prince of Tennis. Only Konomi-sensei has that privelage.**

Okay people this is my first fanfic so please go easy on me. I'm really bad at summaries. The time period is set 3 years after the national tournament so they're all in high school. The characters are probably going to be really OOC because I'm new so I'm not really good at this. Please review. It would really help me improve.

"talking" 'whispering' _thinking_ (Author's notes at the end of the chapter)

**Chaos With Some Love**- Chapter 1:FINALS!

--Pok--

_Man time sure has gone by. It's been three years since the National Tournament right..._

--Pok--

_Three years have gone by but even in high school sempai-tachi still haven't changed have they._

--Pok--

_In fact...I think they have gotten more annoying..._

--Pok--

Echizen Ryoma was hitting a tennis ball against the wall for a little before practice warm up. He was carefree and laid back as usual. But his teammates are not like him. In the tennis clubroom, the Golden pair talk about something that is more important to them.

"Nyaaa! The finals are coming up in a month! What am I going to do~ I haven't studied one it!"

"Eiji, what have you been doing? If you don't pass these exams you won't be able to graduate."

"Oh shut up Oishi! You have it tougher that I do because you're going to a harder college so that you can become a doctor. Don't tell me you aren't worried too!"

"Well that's true but…"

"Saa, how odd seeing you guys fight."

"Fuji sempai's right. It's not good to fight. No it is not…"

"Fuji, Momo!"

"What have you guys been talking about" said Fuji.

Kikumaru replied. "Just about the upcoming finals. How are you guys doing?"  
"Oh yeah, apparently they are supposed to be really hard this year" exclaimed Momo.

"What am I going to do!" screamed the boy.

"Well if you cram bit by bit from today till test day you might be able to scrape a passing grade" replied a voice from behind.

"WAAAAH! Inui don't scare me!"

"It's easy to scare you Eiji" replied Kawamura as he entered with the silent Kaidoh.

"Here Taka-san" smiled Fuji, giving him a racket.

"**HORA HORA HORA! Get pumped for these finals and start preparing! Don't Dawdle!**"

"WAH Taka-san is scary!" Kikumaru yelled, ducking for cover.

"Taka-san calm down!" Oishi exclaimed worry drowning his voice.

"Taka-san has 68.937% more energy because of the stress from finals…" calculated Inui.

"Yo mamushi how's the studying?" asked Momoshiro.

"None of your business" hissed Kaidoh.

"What did you say" retorted Momo.

"Wanna fight do ya!" slithered Kaidoh.

In the middle of all this chaos, Fuji merely smiled and leaned against a wall, watching this whole mess that he himself created. Meanwhile a cat-eyed prince was napping under a tree avoiding all the chaos to come. After many long moments of screaming and crashing, Tezuka with his aura of authority came into the clubroom being destroyed by Seigaku's tennis team's pride and joy, the regulars.

"Everyone 30 laps around the courts" ordered Tezuka

"………………………"

"Why do we have to run laps when we don't have practice!?" (1)

* * *

A freshman girl with long pigtails runs around the campus of the school trying to find the teachers lounge.

"I can't believe I've been at this school for almost a year, and I still can't find my way around!" cried Sakuno.

As she turned the corner a glimmer caught her eye.

"Ryoma-kun!"

The cat-eyed boy was sleeping silently under a shady tree with his hat askew and his always present bottle of Ponta empty. That is what caught Sakuno's eye. The bottle had rolled down and caught part of the sun's rays before coming to a stop at Sakuno's feet. For a few moments, Sakuno stared at her prince noticing how peaceful and unguarded he looked when he was sleeping. The childish Ryoma had now grown into something more than just cute. He was a handsome boy with his wild green hair now reaching his chin. His facial features had curved and sharpened up while his body is also shaped by his physical training. He was the school's most wanted bachelor. Yet when he's sleeping you can't help but marvel at how this small boy can handle all that pressure from all the press and pros trying to get a tennis match from him. Sakuno suddenly realized at how far away Ryoma was and that really depressed her. But she remembered her appointment with her grandmother and raced ahead. With a last glimpse, she turned the corner with a heavy heart.

* * *

"I'm going to be late!" Sakuno screamed as she passed the tennis courts. In her hurry she bumped into an unexpected person.

"Oh be careful. You can't get hurt. No you can't"  
"Momoshiro-sempai!"

"What's all the rush?"

"I have to go to Grandma's office but I can't find it."

"We'll go ask Inui-sempai. He must know. They're in the clubroom cooling down from the laps Tezuka-buchou made us run for being too noisy."

"Ah Tezuka-sempai is still so mean." (2)

"Tell me about it. Oi minna! Do you know where baa-san's office is? Sakuno-chan is trying to find it."

"It should be room 201" replied Inui, still writing Kami knows what in his notebook.

"Oh thank you sempai!" exclaimed Sakuno.

"How lucky you can be carefree like that Sakuno-chan." crooned Kikumaru clinging onto said girl.

"Ano…What's wrong with Kikumaru-sempai?" wondered Sakuno.

"Actually we're all worried about the upcoming finals. Even Tezuka and Inui are worried." explained Oishi.

"Don't remind me!" groaned Kikumaru going off to sulk in a corner.

"Ano…Is it all right if I help?" asked Sakuno.

"WHAT!" came the reply from 7 regulars and a surprised look from Tezuka.

"Well, I'm the best in the class. My grandma wanted me to explore the possibilities and put me in several upper classes which I aced. So you see, if you need it, I can help you."

-- Dead Silence--

"If you don't want it, then that's okay too. I can-"

"WE WANT IT!" screamed all the regulars but Tezuka, who simply nodded in approval.

"This is something new to look into" said Inui as he dived behind his notebook.

"Fushuu… it's amazing how smart you are" complimented Kaidoh.

"Exactly. Very nice" commented Fuji.

"Yes, yes thanks so much!" exclaimed Oishi.

"**BURNING! WE CAN DO THIS!!**" screamed Kawamura brandishing his racket.

"BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI! Kikumaru and Momoshiro bounded into the air screaming for joy.

"Then, I'll meet you all at my house this Sunday at 10? I can prepare lunch and we can continue afterward." exclaimed Sakuno.

"Yes! Thanks so much! All the regulars replied in unison to show their gratitude.

"Oh and Sakuno-chan, I'll make sure to bring Echizen too" winked Momo.

Sakuno blushed a bright red as she hurried out the door.

* * *

"Sakuno you're late!" cried Ryuzaki-sensei.

"Gomen baa-chan. But you'll never believe what just happened…" replied Sakuno as she closed the door to the office.

Like I said people not my best work but please review to help me! Thanks so much! And if you guys don't get anything then please feel free to tell me!

(1) It is a Saturday in the late afternoon. They just happen to all come to the courts and then to the rooms.

(2) Now that it's been three years since Sakuno and all the regulars met, they are all really close and act as the older brothers that Sakuno never had. They all call Sakuno as Sakuno-chan except for Ryoma.


	2. Chapter 2: Girl Seigaku Tennis Regulars

**Discliamer: Don't own Prince of Tennis. Only Konomi-sensei has that privilege.**

Ok people chapter 2 is now up!! I'm going to introduce some new OC's in this chapter so look forward to them! You might not be able to see what they are like but it will be able to show later on! Like I said before the characters are gonna be really OOC so please bear with me!

"talking" 'whispering' _thinking_ (Author's notes at the end of the chapter)

**Chaos With Some Love** – Chapter 2: Girl Seigaku Tennis Regulars!

"Why am I going to Ryuzaki's house on my one free day? And for studying no less" protested Ryoma

"Don't be stubborn and just come" said Momo as he dragged Ryoma to Sakuno's house on Sunday. They decided to meet up before going to her house. Ryoma never showed up so Momo went to go get him. As they neared her house, Momo said

"Echizen, be nice to her okay."

"Huh?" questioned Ryoma. He would have asked what that was about until he saw all the regulars on the floor of Sakuno's living room with a dead expression on their face. Never before had Ryoma seen such a pitiful sight.

"What happened to everyone?" cried Momo.

Sakuno was the one to reply "Oh they're just tired and trying to soak in what I taught them."

"We've been gone for 20 minutes. What could you have possibly taught them!" cried Momo once again

"Momo" stirred Kikumaru "She is one amazing girl. What I've learned in the past 20 minutes is more than what I learn in a week."

At the sound of Kikumaru's voice, the rest of the regulars awoke from their slumber.

"She is so much better than my teacher." commented Kawamura.

"Possibility that we are going to pass: 100%" calculated Inui.

"Fushuu…………sugoi……….." sighed Kaidoh.

"Hahahahaha. I have a good feeling about this" said Fuji as he sat up. For once Oishi was speechless.

"No, everyone's being too modest" blushed Sakuno as everyone showered her with compliments. Momo joined in while he and Echizen caught up with what they missed. Echizen had to admit that even he was surprised at how smart Sakuno really was.

~ 2 hours later ~

Everyone traveled into Sakuno's kitchen to eat their lunch. On the little, circular table were mountains of food of various food like chicken, rice, soup, vegetable, fruit, salad, sushi, etc. There was a full three-course meal and then some.

"Did you make all this!" exclaimed Kawamura as everyone entered the room and drifted to the table.

"Yes. I knew you guys would be very hungry after 2 hours of plain studying so I prepared a little extra to help you through the day" replied Sakuno as she started to serve everyone.

Oishi found this fact astounding and immediately protested "You could have let us make something. Doing all this by yourself and also helping us with our finals is too much."

"Iie. Don't worry about it. I had a lot of free time this morning so I decided to do this. This also helps with all the games you guys play. So please just eat up!" Sakuno did not need to tell them twice as everyone dug in and scarfed everything down. Even Tezuka pulled his façade down just a bit to actually enjoy the meal. But Fuji glanced over and saw this, so the mask was put on once again. In the middle of all this chaos, Kawamura tasted one of the sushi rolls and was overwhelmed.

"This…sushi…it's…it's amazing!" I must know the recipe!" he cried as he pounced on Sakuno, trying to pry the recipe out of her.

"It's actually not my own recipe. One of my sempais gave it to me. She's going to come over later so I can ask her then and give it to you later. She's coming with a few other sempais too."

At this sentence everyone looked up, even Momo who looked like he would never resurface from his mountain of food. Kami knows how much food that boy would need for him to feel "full".

-Ding-Dong-

"Actually that's them right now. I'll be right back" Sakuno cried as she rushed to get the door. Everyone merely went back to eating the delicious food with Momo disappearing behind his plate of food now named by Eiji as "Mt. Everest: Food Edition". Ryoma's gaze lingered on Sakuno's retreating back for one second longer but turned back around and focused on the more pressing matter of stopping Momo/Eiji from stealing his food.

"RYOMA-SAMA!" Ryoma nearly choked on his food. Slowly he turned his head around mentally screaming _Oh no! NO! Anyone but-_

Tomoko was seen with this hysteric smile on her face. She was about to pounce on Ryoma when her best friend grabbed her pigtail and pulled her back.

"OWWWW! Sakuno what are you doing!" yelled Tomoko as she massaged the pigtail that Sakuno just yanked.

"I don't mind what you do Tomo-chan, but not when they're eating okay. That's just rude" Sakuno reprimanded her best friend with a small smirk dancing on her lips.

"I see you do that a lot" Everyone noticed 8 other girls coming in behind Sakuno. The girl that just talked had long black hair with deep penetrating black eyes. She was wearing a knee-length skirt with a white top. She was very beautiful. Actually all 8 girls were drop dead gorgeous.

"Ummm and you are?" Ryoma muttered. It was just like Ryoma to look at these people and not feel phased while everyone else looked like they were in shock.

"Oh sorry! Minna let me introduce you." stated Sakuno as she pointed to the black haired girl. "This is Suzuki Ami. Next to her is Amu, her twin sister." Although Ami and Amu were sisters, they did not have much in common except for their faces. Amu had long brown hair with elegantly dazzling blue eyes but very penetrating as well. Ami had an aura of pride and dignity while Amu had more of a cool, laid back type of personality. She was always smiling and rarely took anything seriously. But underneath was a more sadistic side that came out of a love to see people suffer. (Remind you of anyone!)

"No fair! Why do they get introduced first!" trilled a cat-like voice. A girl with cropped, spiky light pink hair jumped on top of Sakuno. This girl had a great color of purple for her eyes.

"Ah! Sempai! I can't…breathe!" Sakuno cried as the girl hung on for dear life.

"Sakura!" screamed Kikumaru as he realized who she was.

"Ah Kikumaru!" cried Sakura as she finally got off of Sakuno with much persuasion from Amu.

"Do you know each other Eiji?" wondered Oishi.

"Yeah she's in my class."

"I see. No wonder Sakuno chose us. It all makes sense now" replied a voice from behind Sakura.

"**WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!**" screamed Sakura, her voice shooting up an octave while she tumbled to the floor.

"Usio don't scare me like that!" Sakura panted, trying to stop her racing heart. The tall girl was writing something in a little notebook with her glasses shining but showed off her glorious blue-green eyes. She had long black hair as well that was tied up in a neat ponytail. "There was a 96% chance that you would get scared"

"Hahahahaha! I don't think we needed your data to know that" laughed a girl with long brown hair and twinkling orange eyes.

"Oh shut up Taki" Sakura pouted as she was helped up by another girl with long black hair and green eyes. "Thanks Kiki" Kiki merely smiled and nodded.

"Are you okay Sakura?" a motherly voice called out. "Yeah I'm fine Amane" A girl with short brown hair and slanted brown eyes hovered nearby but relaxed with Sakura got up.

"Oi! Properly introduce yourselves!"

"HAI! I'm Kobayashi Sakura and this is my cousin Amane! Yoroshiku!" she pointed out a little victory sign after she latched herself onto Amane. The boys merely saw a very energetic cat.

"Watanabe Usio. Allow me to properly take some notes on you." Everyone sweatdropped at this sentence, picturing another person that is the carbon copy of Inui.

"I'm Yamada Taki!" This outgoing girl just radiated her shining energy.

"Takahashi Kiki desu" The shy girl introduced herself but looked down right after all the guys turned their attention to her. She just wasn't used to this.

Fuji kept smiling while inquiring Sakuno "How do you know them?"

"Oh they're the regulars from the girl tennis team. I was a regular in my first year of Junior High. They were regulars too so that's where I met them."

"Good job" replied Momo with everyone else just nodding, too shocked to speak just yet.

"Oh look it's everyone from Seigaku" said a very familiar voice.

"Tachibana-imouto!" cried Momo as he recognized the voice.

"Tachibana-imouto is not my name. It's An!" she wailed coming from behind everyone else to glare at Momo.

"What are you doing here" Momo tried to hide his surprise but failed horrible.

"For your information I was invited by Sakuno-chan to come here. I didn't know I had to baby-sit" glowered An but she also failed to hold in her excitement in seeing everyone.

"Now, now An-chan. I called you guys here for a different reason. We have 2 and a half months until finals. After what I just saw, we're going to need all the help I can get. So I called over the regulars since they are all straight A students. An-chan is also really smart so I called her over too.

"Then what about her" Ryoma pointed to Tomoko.

"How rude Ryoma-sama" she yelled while striding over. "I happen to be good at math, so Sakuno graciously invited me"

"No she didn't" smirked Amu "You just overheard Sakuno asking us and invited yourself" All the girls barely held in their laughter at this. Lucky for Tomoko, she didn't notice.

"Amu-sempai" shushed Sakuno, barely holding in her smile "That's not nice. You know she's really good at math" She tried to calm everyone down. It was futile so she just pulled up some extra chairs and invited everyone to eat up.

WHEW!! Done with chapter two!! This took a long time to think of the new characters! Sorry if it looks like I just jutted them in there. I might put up some pictures of what I thought the girls looked like the most. I might put in a summary about each girl in case someone gets confused. I'll get the third chapter up as soon as I can so please REVIEW!!!!

Sugoi – wow

Iie – something that goes along the lines of don't worry about it.

Minna – everyone

Yoroshiku – Nice to meet you

If you go to the websites that I put on my profile, I found some pictures that I thought would go really well for each character.


	3. Chapter 3: Realization and a Sushi Party

**Discliamer: Don't own Prince of Tennis. Only Konomi-sensei has that privilege.**

This chapter was REALLY fun to write so I really hope you guys enjoyed it!! Unfortunately I don't own Prince of Tennis but I do own the OCs so it's all good! Like I said before the characters are gonna be really OOC so please bear with me!

"talking" 'whispering' _thinking_ (Author's notes at the end of the chapter)

**Chaos With Some Love** – Chapter 3: Realization and a Sushi Party

"Okay" Sakuno calmed everyone down once they entered her living room. "Since there are a lot of you, I'm just going to pair you up into groups depending on your weak points. Ami-sempai and Amu-sempai can go with Tezuka-sempai and Fuji-sempai. They both need a little help with History. I know that subject is your strong point so help them out will ya?" "Hai" "Sakura-sempai and Amane-sempai can help Kikumaru-sempai and Oishi-sempai with English. Taki-sempai and Kiki-sempai can help Kawamura-sempai and Kaidoh-sempai with Math. Oh yeah An-chan can help Momoshiro-sempai with Math too. Tomo-chan, can you just look at that group and also help to explain?" "Roger" came 6 voices. "Usio-sempai, please help Inui-sempai with chemistry. His drinks are hopeless. I know you make the same kind of drinks but you're unexpectedly good at the subject so just help him."

"Inui, what kind of juices do you make" questioned Usio as she pulled out one of her concoctions. All the girls shivered at the sight of Usio's 'drinks'. Only they knew the horror it held.

"Do you want to see" he replied also pulling out one of his juices. It was the boys turn to shiver this time.

"You guys bring out those drinks and I will personally shove it down your throats" Sakuno threatened. The two maniacs (1) sadly put their drinks away, promising to meet up and discuss it later. The others were too relieved to notice Sakuno's boldness except for a certain tennis prodigy. "Anyway, I'll help Ryoma-kun with History and a little bit of English."

Roma smirked saying in English "I don't need your help in English. I know English good."

Sakuno replied but in Japanese "Ryoma-kun it's well, not good."

Ryoma stared open-mouthed at her while she giggled and said "Mada Mada Dane Ryoma-kun."

Everyone burst out laughing, tears welling in their eyes. As Momo got a little control of himself he breathed out "She got you there Echizen."

Ryoma merely growled and pulled his hat down. With that everyone dispersed into the living room, going about their separate ways. After leaving Ryoma with a few history questions, Sakuno went around the room to check up on everyone. She started with Ami, Amu, Tezuka, and Fuji. They had started with World History and talking about the ancient Egyptian civilization. Amu began "The pyramids were built for people who died. So basically tombstones." She started and was about to move on when Sakuno interrupted "Not just any person but for very powerful pharaohs. They were also built to show the power that ancient Egypt had." Amu felt like she skipped an important detail and graciously thanked Sakuno as she gave a little wave and went to Sakura, Amane, Eiji, and Oishi.

"Remember that pronouns are things that take the place of a noun. Some examples are……." She trailed off as she drew a blank. "He, She, They, It" came Sakuno's voice. Sakura pouted at having forgotten that but Amane and her still smiled after Sakuno. When she walked over to the math groups, she heard talk about geometry. Taki started "A2 + B2 = C2 is a really important formula" (2). Kiki continued "It helps find the length of one side of the triangle when you are already given two sides." An went next "It's called…" but she also drew a blank. When she asked the other 3 girls they forgot too. She spotted Sakuno looking at them and asked her. "The Pythagorean Theorem" replied Sakuno not phased at all. An thanked her and went back. Ryoma had finished the questions and was waiting for Sakuno when he noticed a change in her. This time he got lost in his thoughts as he pondered what it was.

_What is so different about her? _He screamed in his head. He then recalled what was the same. _She still had her beautiful smile. Her eyes are still that sweet chocolate-brown. Her body is now fit for a tennis player. But her two ridiculous pigtails are still there. She still blushes now and then but her stuttering all but disappeared. She's not that shy around me anymore. She's got more confidence in herself along with some backbone. All in all, she looks gorgeous…wait __**PAUSE REWIND AND**__**FREEZE. **__I did not just think that. She's the coach's granddaughter that's all. I do NOT like her! Damn oyaji and his 'magazines'. Why couldn't he tell me about these stupid hormones? _

That's when Sakuno noticed he was done and gave him a sparkling smile. Ryoma froze. He was shocked a mere puny girl like Sakuno could stun him, the famous tennis prodigy. He pulled his cap down even farther to hide the oncoming blush that was creeping up his neck. _What's happening to me! _He cried to himself.

* * *

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Kikumaru sighed as he stretched out. "We're done!"

It was 4:30 and Sakuno decided that they should stop for the day. They were all packing up when Kawamura suggested they go to his place for a well deserved rest. Everyone immediately agreed and is traveling to Kawamura's sushi shop. They don't know what's about to happen. All they know is that they are going to have a great evening.

* * *

As expected Kawamura's dad rented out the place for them which made Tezuka and Ami thank him for the hospitality while everyone settled down into their seats. Inui and Usio sat on the stools discussing various information that would shock the human mind. Some things are better left unsaid… Kaidoh and Kiki also sat down at the stools discussing various animal related subjects while Taki sat there to talk to Kawamura. Everyone else sat at the tables. The seating arrangements were like so (on tables that hold four):

- Ryoma sat next to Momoshiro. Sakuno sat across from Ryoma while An sat next to her.

- Kikumaru sat next to Oishi. Sakura across from Kikumaru. Amane next to Sakura.

- Tezuka sat next to Amu (discussing training schedules). Fuji across from Tezuka. Ami

next to Fuji.

"Ehhhhhh………. Mamushi can hold a conversation after all." Momo said talking to Ryoma. This caused a tennis ball to be hurled at the back of Momo's head by Kaidoh (3). Momo clutched his head as he gave a look of surprised but as he started regaining control, he started screaming at Kaidoh.

"What was that for Baka-mamushi?!"

"What did you say?!"

"You heard me!"

"Bring it on!"

"Stop fighting or 50 laps" Two voices called simultaneously. Heads turned to see Ami and Tezuka glance at each other.

"Like two peas in a pod" Amu chuckled as she patted her sister's shoulder to gain her attention. When Ami turned around, Amu had already taken a picture of her sister's surprised expression.

"Gotcha" She giggled as she thought, Better_ store this away for blackmail purposes_

"Amu…" Ami's voiced dripped with anger and displeasure at the same time glaring at her sister knowing what she was going to do.

"Hai Hai" she returned to her seat. When the picture was taken, everyone got out of their trance and returned to their businesses.

"Saa… it looks like you like photography" a certain tensai asked.

"Yeah it's been my hobby since I was a kid." Amu's eyes drifted off into a distance as she reminisced about her favorite pastime hobby. She didn't even notice the hand that wrapped around her fingers holding the camera.

Fuji inquired "Mind if I take a look?" At the mention of this question, Amu came back to her senses and snatched the camera away flushing a deep crimson color rivaling that of Sakuno's past blushes. She started to answer when Ami interrupted.

"I wouldn't if I were you" She retorted, getting back for what happened earlier "She's really protective of that camera. Even I haven't touched it yet. It's her second prized possession after her library card"

"AMI!" Amu screeched at her for revealing such personal stuff. Ami shrugged with a smirk knowing that she got her revenge. Fuji chuckled lightly and started his conversation about books with Amu. Ami then returned to her conversation with Tezuka. After a while when Tezuka was talking, Ami started giggling.

"Why are you laughing" twitched Tezuka, his mask slipping.

"Oh I'm sorry it's just that people always say that you are stoic and too serious to talk to, let alone hold a conversation with. But the thing is that you just have to get past the mask of yours and they see what kind of a person you really are. Like I always say 'Never judge a book by it's cover'" smiled Amu. For once Tezuka had a genuine smile on his face.

- Click -

- Click -

Tezuka and Ami both snapped their heads around to find both Amu and Fuji with their camera up (4). Fuji smiled over at Amu which caused her to blush and retreat over to Ami. Her cheeks were still a light pink as Ami scolded her. Fuji merely chuckled once again at Amu's reaction. He was rather enjoying it and decided to do it more often (teasing her that is).

"Sorry for ruining your little moment there Tezuka"

Tezuka gave him a stop-or-I'll-make-you-run-laps glare. Fuji smile once more (when isn't he smiling) but followed his silent order.

MAN did I love writing this chapter! I thought that it was time to show possible couples and some fluff scenes. I know Ryoma is getting OOC but just bare with me. I know the tutoring stuff is too easy to be high school material but I didn't want it to be too long so that's all you get.

(1) I'm not joking they really are maniacs. I can usually hold down most stuff but I don't want to risk it with those drinks.

(2) The letters are actually supposed to be squared but I don't know how to do that on the computer.

(3) I don't know where Kaidoh got the tennis ball but just follow along

(4) Again I don't know where Fuji got his camera but I just figured he had it with him all the time so he just pulls it out of nowhere just like Inui/Usio pull their juices out of nowhere.


	4. Chapter 4: Closing up for the Night

**Disclaimer: Don't own Prince of Tennis. Only Konomi-sensei has that privilege.**

I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY FOR THE LONG BREAK!!!!! I had the WORST case of writer's block!! This chapter is not my best but I hope I don't get anymore blocks from now on. I have all these bits and pieces of stuff that I want but it's hard to put it all together because this is my first time writing a fanfic so bear with me please! Thanks for everyone who is reading and reviewing and all that good stuff! Unfortunately I don't own Prince of Tennis but I do own the OCs so it's all good! Like I said before the characters are gonna be really OOC!

"talking" 'whispering' _thinking_ (Author's notes at the end of the chapter)

**Chaos With Some Love** – Chapter 4: Closing up for the Night

"FU-JI-KO!"

Eiji ran forward and glomped his best friend from behind. "How nice! Such a cute little atmosphere this table has nya~!"

"Eiji…" Fuji smiled but started to pull his sadistic/malicious side out, plotting ways to torture our poor cat/mascot (whichever you think is cuter). He was about to retort when they heard a squeal that matched Eiji's.

"A-MI-CHAAAN!" Sakura started her huge leap towards Ami who was turned to her side facing Amu. Out of reflex, Ami stepped back so that Sakura whizzed through them both heading straight for the wall.

- BAM -

All heads turned at this "HOW MEAN AMI-CHAN!" Sakura collected herself, rubbing the sore spot where her forehead had crashed to the wall.

"Gomen Sakura!" cried Ami as she and Amane tried to help Sakura

"Why did you dodge?!"

"Reflex. I'm just so used to you doing this that I kinda subconsciously dodged. Hontouni Gomen!" (1). Sakura pulled a cute pout and went over to Amane grumbling incoherent words under her break. Ami merely giggled and settled back down (So did everyone else).

"Daijobu?" (2) Kikumaru's face popped up, their noses only an inch apart. Sakura stopped with this shocked expression. Her cheeks flushed a light salmon pink before mumbling an "I'm fine" and rushed to go bother Amane.

Amane and Oishi were tending to her wound when Amane noticed the close contact with Oishi. She blushed and just tried to calm Sakura down while Oishi finished up. Sakura noticed this and a grin popped up on her face.

"Ne Amane-chan" she whispered while grinning mischievously "Why is your face red. Got the hots for someone do you?" Thankfully for Amane, Oishi was busy talking to Kikumaru to notice. Amane blushed a deeper red and tried to make sure that Sakura doesn't blurt the secret to the world

~With Kawamura and Taki~

"Taka-san this sushi is so good!" Taki exclaimed wolfing down another anago roll (3).

"Ahh t-thanks" stuttered Kawamura as he got endless praise from the ball of sunshine sitting across from him on the stool.

"Do you mind if I try?" Taki asked with this huge smile on her face going behind the counter no matter what the answer would be.

"Ummm sure…" Kawamura slightly sweatdropped at the actions of the happy-go-lucky girl already working to create the sushi piece. After a few minutes of diligent working in which even Kawamura's father came to ponder at how the girl worked, her master piece was finally done (only three pieces of sushi though. One for her, Kawamura and his dad).

"It's good!" Kawamura exclaimed taking his piece of sushi, giving the other to his dad whose eyes widened at the taste. The father then asked where she learned to cook like that.

"Oh my parents own a restaurant on the other side of school (4). Ever since I was little and able to walk, I've been learning everything my little four year old brain could handle. I was surrounded by food and grew to just plain love it!"

Kawamura's father's eyes slightly widened as he registered what she just said. "Wait. By the other side of the school, you don't mean 'The Fearless Sun" do you?"

"Yep that's the one!"

Kawamura's father stumbled as he tried to soak everything in. Kawamura caught him in time asking him if he was okay.

"You see son, that place is one of the most famous restaurants in the Japan. I went there the other day and their food was beyond delicious. I learned so much from their sushi…" he trailed off as he went back upstairs.

Kawamura was deciding whether or not to ask if he could go to Taki's restaurant. "Um T-Taki-san.. i-is it okay I m-mean alright if…" All of a sudden, Fuji appeared out of nowhere and slipped a racket into Kawamura's hand. The background started to burn up as all the guys froze (except Tezuka and Fuji of course) and slowly turned to look at the source of the fire while the girls (except An and Sakuno) looked clueless.

"**YO TAKI!!! I'M COMING TO YOUR RESTAURANT WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT BABY! SO BE SURE TO KEEP A TABLE OPEN FOR ME ALL THE TIME!"**

Kawamura started screaming random sentences. Amu was then reminded of another fact and slowly got her racket out to slip it into Taki's turned back. Almost immediately the change was apparent as the fire that was burning the background became dark and gloomy while weirdly, Kawamura in his racket mode was left speechless. Everyone turned to Taki this time to see a rather pitiful sight as she had anime style depression lines over her head that was hung down. The girls were expecting what was coming next while the boys were wondering what could have possibly put out Kawamura's racket flame.

"Yes I suppose you could come over but there might not be enough space and if there isn't then that means I have to save some space but that would mean I would have to tell my parents and knowing them I would have to tell them everything about today too. Awww this sounds like a lot of work but he is my friend so I must do it or then he might not like me anymore and that wouldn't be good now would it…" The melancholy girl just kept going on and on and on and on and on and on…………… it made the whole room go into a depression mode. Momo and Kaidoh stopped arguing, Fuji wasn't smiling and had his eyes open, Kikumaru looked like he was going to go into a hole to die, Oishi wasn't even registering hen mode, Inui was not taking down notes about the latest discovery, Kawamura was so shocked that he dropped his racket and Tezuka…well he was being Tezuka. The girls were the only ones not affected by this due to the fact of seeing it every day at tennis practice; they had learned to grow immune. Ami slowly took the racket out of Taki's hand, bringing the sun right back out. Ami then turned around and tried to smack Amu with the racket yelling that she shouldn't have done that. The boys, obviously still on the hangover from Taki, were depressed and about to go over the edge when Usio started to explain

"Taki is just like your Kawamura in a way" she started to explain as Taki started talking again with a surprised Kawamura "but the thing that keeps them different is that her racket mode brings out her fears and weaknesses. She believes in herself but when she picks up a racket she can't help but think what is wrong with her. Kawamura always thinks lowly of himself but when he holds a racket, he starts to notice what good he has in himself. They are opposites that compliment each other. Maybe they are going to be my next targets for 'Operation Double M'" The girls all but froze. Kiki was the next to speak up this time

"Oh god Usio-sempai please anything but that"

"What's going on? What's this 'Operation Double M' you guys are so scared of?" questioned a curious Kikumaru.

"IT'S BETTER IF YOU DON'T KNOW!" all the girls all but screamed their answer. Some even involuntarily shivered thinking of bad memories.

Usio chuckled and started to explain her dangerous plan while smirking "I have this habit of trying to hook up the girls with boyfriends. I call it 'Operation Double M' for match-making. I usually send them on a date with them not knowing it and follow to make sure everything goes well and that they do not ditch. Of course this is always waiting for them if they do consider it." Usio manically pulled out one of her drinks. It was a nauseous color that had tints of green, gold, brown, blue, and purple. The top was bubbling and was threatening to spill over had the girls not yelled at Usio to put it away. It took Ami threatening to make her run laps on Monday before she put it away. "The results were always very interesting to behold." She smirked some more as it looked like Inui had wanted more information as he had been writing furiously and looked up to see if she would continue. But Usio kept her mouth shut. No use giving the boy everything she had. It would be amusing to see him squirm and beg to get the information from her.

"INTERESTING" Sakura all but screamed at the data-gathering tall girl "YOU PAIRED ME UP WITH A 45 YEAR OLD GEEZER! WE PLAYED BINGO THE WHOLE NIGHT. ONCE HIS FAKE TEETH FELL INTO MY DRINK AND HE JUST PICKET IT RIGHT OUT AND PUT IT BACK IN HIS MOUTH! OUR DATE LASTED ALL OF TWO HOURS BECAUSE HE HAD TO GO BACK TO BED AT 8:30!" Sakura shivered one more time, trying to push back the horrible memories.

An also shivered when she thought about her last encounter "I remember you paired me up with the monkey king Atobe. That was a sight. He didn't know that his blind date would be me and instantly just left saying that I wasn't fit to date his 'flawless skills'."

Momo started laughing his but off "That is too funny. You totally got dumped in the first five minutes of the date!"

An shot him a look and then smacked his head. The two then started on another big fight. Usio then stated something that has been on her mind for a while now.

"Maybe I should do you two instead of Taki. It seems more interesting."

Everyone laughed at the surprised expression of Momo and An. They both started to blush a huge blush reaching to their ears. An then started to threaten Usio.

"Please Usio-sempai do anything but that!" she pleaded as hard as she could having a light pink still grazing her cheeks.

"Why not?" Sakuno's small voice popped up making everyone turn around and stare at her. "You guys look like such a cute pair too. This would be interesting to watch this time wouldn't it An?"

Said girl lost all the blood in her face as Momo started blushing harder. An felt more than one vein pop as she wheeled around to throw Sakuno a deathly glare.

"Sa-ku-no……." An's voice dripped with venom as she dived unto the unsuspecting girl. It was only when An was only three feet away did Sakuno notice the impending doom. She immediately started panicking and tried to save her life.

"C-calm d-down An-c-chan. It w-was just a j-joke." Sakuno started stepping back bit by bit as An was walking over with a fire burning around her and a demon from hell appearing in her facial features. Sakuno then noticed that she was backed up against a wall. She contemplated something for 2 seconds and ran for hell around the room. An gave chase yelling crude remarks and things that are not allowed for this fan fiction.

"I SAID I WAS SORRY!!!" Sakuno screamed as she started running around and around the room. All of a sudden she whipped around and hid behind Sakura and Kiki. "Sempai-tachi (5) please save me!"

Said girls freaked at the sight of An running at them with full force "WHY THE HELL DID YOU GET US INTO THIS TOO SAKUNO!" They too started running around the room with Sakuno leading the way. The rest of the girls went into protection mode when Taki and Amu started to hold back An while Ami and Amane tried to reason with her to calm down. The boys were officially scared at the ferocity of a girl's anger. They quietly hid in a corner until everything was sorted out. It was only when a nearby clock struck it's cord signaling another hour gone by did everything in the room go dead silent. Sakuno was the first one to speak.

"Kawamura-sempai…um what time is it"

"7-o-clock. Why?"

"CRAP!" Sakuno and An both screamed their heads off as they rushed around everywhere trying to get all their stuff together. An was at the door waiting for Sakuno to explain to the others (by others I mean the boys).

"Gomen but we both have lessons to attend today. An-chan has skating while I have singing. Sorry to leave so suddenly but we must leave. Thank you for the hospitality Kawamura-sempai."

"Sakuno come on we're going to be late! And you know how mad Ichino-sensei and Kyoko-sensei can get!"

"Coming! Thanks again. See you all tomorrow" The two girls rushed out the door leaving the boys befuddled in their wake. The other girls merely smiled at their kouhais (6) and started to get their stuff as well.

"Well thank you for inviting us too Kawamura-san but we must get going as well. See you all tomorrow." Ami dismissed her and her team before they all headed out the door. The boys took a few extra minutes to get out of their shocked stage (except Tezuka of course) and started to leave as well, thinking back on the great day they had. They had learned so many things from the review session, made new friends, and had sushi. The boys all had different thoughts but one thing was the same for each of them.

_I can't wait for the next study session._

* * *

This is by far the biggest chapter I wrote! Once again I am SO sorry for the big delay but I had a huge case of writer's block. Hope the next chapter comes out easily. Sorry for all my grammar mistakes too. **If you want to see what the girls look like in my mind, go visit my profile. On it I have some website pictures that closely resemble what I was picturing when I made the girls.** For the next chapter, I might do a training session with the girls or fluff scenes. Depending on what comes easier. If you guys have any suggestions please review. I will happily take anything. Speaking of which, I'd like to thank the people reviewing. I really learn a lot from you guys.

(1) Hontouni Gomen – I'm really sorry

(2) Daijobu – Are you okay

(3) I think an anago roll is sushi with fish on top. I'm not so sure.

(4) Kawamura sushi is in the district towards the North of the school while The Fearless Sun is in the district towards the South of the school.

(5) Sempai-tachi – referring to more than one sempai

(6) Kouhai – someone younger than you. Opposite of sempai


	5. Extra: OC Character Description

**Disclaimer: Don't own Prince of Tennis. Only Konomi-sensei has that privilege.**

HEYYY GUYS!! Sorry again for the huge break but I did this thing that shows what type of people the girl regulars are. It just shows their personality and stuff like that. Don't worry I'm working on chapter 5 as well while doing this so it should be up as soon as I can get everything in. So wait for it please!

I would like to REALLY thank whoever is Anonymous. You comments were really appreciated and I tried to do the best I could to cover up my mistakes. Actually I was thinking of doing a fluff chapter with a tennis chapter following that too. I just happened to want to do it more because of what you said. I was already thinking of some of their abilities. I'll check out the story you told me about and see if it can help me. Thanks again soooo much!!!!

_**Chaos with some Love OC Descriptions**_

_**Suzuki Ami**_

**Year: **3

**Personality: **Practical but loves to hang out with her family and friends. **LOVES** to eat. Can get really angry when she wants to.

**Personal Appearance: **Long black hair that doesn't match her personality. Black piercing eyes. Has the image of a devil but doesn't have the aura of one.

**Favorite food: **Anything that is edible.

**Favorite subject: **History

**Favorite color:** Yellow (weird I know)

**Best friend:** Her sister Amu and Watanabe Usio

**Hobbies: **Eating, playing tennis, dancing (any type)

**Worst fear:** Heights/the dark

**Future job:** Professional Dancer

**Nicknames:** Angel, Dragon Lady (when angry usually over food)

**Other little facts: **Captain of the Tennis, has a scholarship to a very private dance school, hates daffodils and sunflowers (yes I know her favorite color is yellow but you'll find out why later), eats anything she can get here hands on, has learned over 85 recipes and counting, turns Dragon Mode whenever someone tries to touch her food, and has an older brother whom she cherishes. She lives with her brother and twin sister only.

_**Suzuki Amu**_

**Year: **3

**Personality: **Naturally shy and very sweet, sometimes a bit of a pushover. Can be sadistic but only towards her friends and family and only very lightly too.

**Personal Appearance: **Long brown hair, penetrating sky blue eyes

**Favorite food: **Anything sweet, mostly chocolates and ice cream

**Favorite subject: **Literature (if that is a subject)

**Favorite color: **Blue – any shades

**Best friend: **Her sister Ami and Watanabe Usio

**Hobbies: **Plays tennis, loves reading, taking videos

**Worst fear: **The dark/Heights

**Future job:** Either a librarian or a movie director

**Nicknames: **Devil's Advocate, Bookworm,

**Other little facts: **A library assistant, a sucker for romance novels and movies, gets scared really easily, is really emotional, has read over 300 books and can read a book a day if she has time. Joined the tennis club because she wanted to know why her sister was so obsessed about it, and has an older brother whom she cherishes. She lives with her brother and twin sister only.

_**Kobayashi Sakura**_

**Year:** 3

**Personality: **Is like a little puppy even though she has an appearance of a cat. Can be cute but feisty at the same time. VERY childish.

**Personal Appearance: **Has the appearance of cat, cropped, spiky light pink hair, and purple/magenta colored eyes.

**Favorite food: **Daifuku (a small round rice cake stuffed with sweet filling, most commonly sweetened red bean paste) (Loves to see Amu trying to get it)

**Favorite subject: **Lunch (To Sakura, this is considered a subject)

**Favorite color: **Red

**Best friend: **Takahashi Kiki

**Hobbies: **Causing chaos (only a little bit), tennis, watching anime/reading manga, and is a gymnast

**Worst fear: **Claustrophobic

**Future job: **Has no idea…..a waitress maybe….

**Nicknames: **Little Puppy, Gymnastic Cycle, and Tower of Horror

**Other little facts: **Lives with Amane, Amane's mom, and Sakura's dad. She adores dogs and has four of them as pets, Lucky (I got this name from one of the POT episodes!), Ryuu, Shunko, and Emiko. Lucky and Ryuu are boys while Shunko and Emiko are girls. Lucky and Shunko are Siberian Huskies while Ryuu and Emiko are border collies. Amane is actually the one that takes care of them but the dogs love both the cousins (Do you honestly expect Sakura to take care of four dogs when she can barely take care of herself.). Other than being a gymnast, she loves reading manga/watching anime. Her favorite shows are Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, and Dragonball Kai. She loves to mess around with all the girl regulars but still loves them to death.

_**Kobayashi Amane**_

**Year:** 3

**Personality: **A shy sweet girl at heart that does anything for her friends and family

**Personal Appearance: **Short brown hair with layers and slanted brown eyes

**Favorite food: **Tempura (seafood, vegetables and other things deep fried in Tempura batter)

**Favorite subject: **History

**Favorite color: **Purple

**Best friend: **Yamada Taki

**Hobbies: **Tennis, taking care of her garden, karate

**Worst fear: **Fire

**Future job: **A nurse/doctor's assistant.

**Nicknames: **Worrywart, Mom (called by the Sakura) and Karate Master

**Other little facts: **Lives with Sakura, Sakura's dad, and Amane's mom. Yes, she knows karate. It's a shocker but she was interested in it since she was little and now she has a black belt and is good enough to teach other kids. Although she has karate, she also volunteers every now and then at her local hospital. It was her dream to be a nurse just like her mom. She tends to a garden just outside her house that she shares with Sakura. Taking care of the garden really releases all the stress that she builds from all the work she does and of taking care of Sakura and the dogs (face it Sakura is just like another dog…)

_**Watanabe Usio**_

**Year: **3

**Personality: **seems to be like a stalker but is only like that to cover up for her real personality. Is actually really nice and sweet.

**Personal Appearance: **tall, black hair usually in a ponytail, glasses (sometimes uses contacts) that show off her blue-green eyes. Usually has a notebook with her.

**Favorite food: **Anything sour. Especially likes her drinks and doesn't get why everyone hates them.

**Favorite subject: **Art/Biology

**Favorite color: **Black

**Best friend: **Suzuki Ami and Amu

**Hobbies: **Tennis, data gathering (also known as stalking), drawing/painting.

**Worst fear: **Girly things like lace and frills but likes makeovers.

**Future job: **Artist or Accountant

**Nicknames: **Stalker (when not in earshot), Data Queen, Picasso-girl version.

**Other little facts: **She has won a few art awards for her drawings, is on the tennis team, **VERY** protective of the Suzuki Twins, and makes these horrible drinks that rival that of Inui. Actually loves to hang out with the girls and find them very fun to be around. She is actually pretty rich because her parents were both very respected and noble scientists.

_**Yamada Taki**_

**Year: **3

**Personality: **A very sweet-natured girl that just positively glows. Her personality turns 180 degrees when she holds a racket.

**Personal Appearance: **Long brown hair and twinkling orange eyes

**Favorite food: **Sushi

**Favorite subject: **Foods/Home Economics

**Favorite color: **Brown

**Best friend: **Kobayashi Amane

**Hobbies: **Tennis and a chef at her parent's restaurant

**Worst fear: **Thunder/Lightning

**Future job: **A restaurant owner/Head Chef of that same restaurant

**Nicknames: **Second Sun, Depression Freak, and Cookbook

**Other little facts: **Everyone always go to her if they need someone to cheer them up. They also go to her in case they need a party pooper (but that's rarely). She really knows what to say to people to get them excited and can be an amazing person. Her parents own one of the biggest and best restaurants in Japan (so she is pretty rich). She met Amane at the local park. She was taking a walk while Amane was taking the dogs out. Taki helped her take care of the dogs for a while and they would up talking to each other and becoming best of friends. It wasn't until school started when they found out that they both went to Seigaku (this happened during the summer before their third year of middle school).

_**Takahashi Kiki**_

**Year: **2

**Personality: **A shy natured girl that can stand up for what she believes in

**Personal Appearance: **Long black hair that reached to her middle back and dark green eyes

**Favorite food: **Udon (A form of Japanese noodles with endless varieties)

**Favorite subject: **Math

**Favorite color: **Green

**Best friend: **Kobayashi Sakura

**Hobbies: **Taking hikes and mountain climbing, taking care of animals, tennis, swimming

**Worst fear: **Death

**Future job: **Veterinarian

**Nicknames: **Animal Lover and Nature Freak

**Other little facts: **Parents own a farm a few miles out town. She goes there every weekend to take care of the animals even though they have plenty of workers that take care of them every day. Is fairly rich. Loves horses the best and takes a nice long hike up the nearby hill/mountain with her horse, Sunset for about 2 hours every Saturday after school. Even though she is a nice girl, she can get feisty if need be.

_**Tachibana An**_

**Year: **2

**Personality: **Very bold and confronting, not afraid to stand up for what she believes in.

**Personal Appearance: **Short red-brown hair, usually has two clips at the sides of her hair

**Favorite food: **Chirashizushi (a bowl of sushi rice with other ingredients mixed in)

**Favorite subject: **Math

**Favorite color: **Orange

**Best friend: **Ryuzaki Sakuno

**Hobbies: **Tennis and Ice Skating

**Worst fear: **Clowns

**Future job: **Teacher

**Nicknames: **Tachibana-imouto(mainly by Momoshiro) and Ice Queen

**Other little facts: **The little sister of Tachibana Kippei (no surprise there), has been learning how to ice skate since she was three by her parents but still wants to be a teacher because she loves how no matter how much she can't get the problem, her teacher can just come and make it seem like the easiest thing in the world. I don't really know what else to say.

_**Ryuzaki Sakuno**_

**Year: **1

**Personality: **Shy, sweet, kind, just like a little angel.

**Personal Appearance: **Dark brown hair always in braids, deep chocolate brown eyes, and bangs that grew out and now cover her forehead, usually has a clip that tries to pin them back but fails.

**Favorite food: **Strawberries

**Favorite subject: **Music

**Favorite color: **Pink

**Best friend: **Tachibana An

**Hobbies:** Tennis, Singing

**Worst fear: **Pins/Needles

**Future job: **Singer, maybe a school choir teacher.

**Nicknames: **Sa-chan, Princess of Tennis (got to add that!), Ryuzaki-mago (mago = granddaughter)

**Other little facts: **Has an older brother (will reveal himself later), no parents and under the care of Ryuzaki Sumire, looks up to the boy regulars as brothers, met up with all the girl regulars in her first year of middle school. Sakuno became really good friends with An during her second year of junior high and introduced An to the other girls. She is a character in prince of tennis so I can't really say much else.


	6. Chapter 5: What the Girls Can Do

**Disclaimer: Don't own Prince of Tennis. Only Konomi-sensei has that privilege.**

Drum roll please……HERE IT IS CHAPTER 5!!!! (Finally I know!) Sorry I've been so long but it's hard to come up with these and I'm not a very good writer either so it's even harder. Anyways, I really love this chapter. It starts to show what skills the girls have and what they can do! The boys are gonna be impressed a lot for the next few chapters so if it sounds weird and not like them please bear with me. Thanks for everyone who is reading and all that good stuff! Please help me improve by reviewing. I would REALLY appreciate that! Any comments would be fine. Good or bad I'll take them all! Please, pretty please with whatever you want on top! Unfortunately I don't own Prince of Tennis but I do own the OCs so it's all good! Like I said before the characters are gonna be **REALLY** OOC!

**Anonymous**: Thanks so much for reviewing!!! Oh I heard of that series but I never started to read it. I actually have a TON of books that I want to read. I'm reading the House of Night series right now and the books I want to read are:

-City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

-The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima

-The Reincarnationist by MJ Rose

-The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

If you have any other books that you think I would like to read please don't hesitate to tell me. I'll do the same. Still I really thank you for reviewing so much!

"talking" 'whispering' _thinking_ (Author's notes at the end of the chapter)

**Chaos With Some Love** – Chapter 5: What the Girls Can Do

"Okay so did you get that" Sakura was trying to explain to Kikumaru direct object pronouns and adverbs. They finally got the pronouns down after 2 hours of working. It was now 4:30. Kikumaru was sitting there peacefully with a giddy expression on his face before he answered

"Nope! Not a clue!" for some reason he felt really proud about this. Why I don't know but this is Kikumaru we are talking about. But one thing that he didn't understand is why he was so happy about spending time with Sakura. He just brushed it off saying that it was because they had a lot of stuff in common, something that Kikumaru didn't even share with Oishi (dense I know. It pains me to describe Kikumaru like this…………*sigh*………….). Amane and Oishi had finished a while back and were taking a break when they heard Sakura groan. They noticed her with her forehead on her desk and Kikumaru with his happy-go-lucky smile. They instantly figured out what was going on and inwardly sigh, going over to either help Kikumaru or to make sure that Sakura didn't strangle said victim.

Everyone was back at Sakura's house the Sunday afterwards for the next study session. Some people *cough Fuji Tezuka cough* were doing better than others *cough Kikumaru Momoshiro cough*. Because of this, if they had finished that week's planned lesson, then they had some free time. With the power or Sakura, Oishi, and Amane combined they finally were able to teach Kikumaru about object pronouns and adverbs. They decided to stop seeing as it was already 12:30. As they entered the dining room, they saw Sakuno pacing back and forth muttering "Oh no. What should I do?" Surprisingly, there was no food! *gasp*

Momoshiro was of course the first one to ask "Hey Sakuno-chan, where's the food?" Sakuno doesn't hear him and is still pacing frantically. It wasn't until Amu caught her shoulders did she finally come to.

"Sakuno. What's wrong?"

"Oh sempai-tachi. I'm sorry but we don't have any food. I thought obaa-chan ordered sushi the other day but I guess she didn't. Oh what should I do!"

After all this, Taki started chuckling (if that's a word) and said "It's okay Sakuno. Since we went to Kawamura's restaurant the other day, we'll go to mine today. It's not that far from here either."

The boys were mumbling to themselves, thinking about what the restaurant would be like while the girls had a knowing look. Sakuno brightened up and started thanking her sempai profoundly. In the middle of all this, Sakura glomped Taki and shouted" YOSH! Onward my fellow mattes (as in pirates) to the Fearless Sun!"

****

"_This _ is-"

"Your-"

"RETAURANT!" Momoshiro and Kikumaru screamed as they looked at the big--okay GINORMOUS-- restaurant that was in front of their very eyes.

"Well what did you expect" Ami said casually as she looked up at the building "It is a five star restaurant after all."

"It's a WHAT!" At this, Oishi, Momoshiro, Kikumaru, and Kawamura screamed as their voices shot up. Ryoma, Fuji, Inui, and Kaidoh just gazed in awe while Tezuka had his serious expression still on. But if one looked closely, they could see the hint of surprise in his eyes.

The restaurant was a huge building with two floors, and a very big patio out front where the customers could sit and eat when the weather permits it. Of course, there is a little pathway that leads to the entrance of the restaurant. It is surrounded by many types of flowers and trees. The pathway is made with a very rare stone that looks like marble (I don't think that something like that exists but oh well). The boys were still gaping like a bunch of fish when they entered the restaurant. If they thought the outside was magnificent, then they could not believe their eyes when they went inside. The inside had an exotic feel to it with lavish carpeting and many different plants surrounding the tables. The lighting was dimmed to give a very soothing aura while those lamps things that are made out of plastic hang from the ceiling, giving more to the exotic lighting. The tables were lines with silk while the chairs were made out of the finest leather. The dishes and forks on the table were made from the best china that they could afford and looked so expensive that Kikumaru didn't even look at it. He was scared that he would break it with one look.

While the boys were still staring at the rest of the room and trying to get everything in their eyes, the girls had managed to find a table for all 18 of them (with some persuasion from Taki, it was pretty easy).

"Hey Seigaku, if you don't get over here, we're going to order without you." Ami cried impatiently. The rest of the girls just nodded knowingly. They knew that if their buchou did not get her food when she was hungry and fast, there would be chaos. They boys managed to sit down and place an order, while gawking at the prices of the food. But Taki reassured them that it was all on the house. Still, Momoshiro did only get half of what he would usually get and just made a mental note to go eat more at home for dinner tonight.

Almost 5 minutes after placing their order, the food arrived, nice and steaming hot on plates that Kikumaru swore looked like gold. While Seigaku was taking their first bites, the girls just stared at them, wanting to see their expressions when they tasted the food. The reactions were priceless. Ryoma had his eyes open so wide that his hat threatened to fall off. Momoshiro and Kikumaru looked like they were going to cry. Kaidoh just stared and stared at his food. Inui was muttering under his breath saying how it "was illogical" to be that good. Oishi almost fainted from shock while Kawamura did faint from shock (but recovered instantly. Don't worry, he's fine). Tezuka…well he was Tezuka. The girls quietly snickered and started to eat as well. When they were finally finished with their main course, desert appeared just as quickly. This is where all the fun, I mean, conversations began.

"So I heard that all you girls have other talents that don't include tennis?" This question of course came from Fuji, the ever questioning tensai.

"Well no duh. I mean our lives don't just revolve around tennis." An made is so that a little guilt type feeling was put on the guys. Some even shifted in their seats a little uncomfortably. It was only until Sakuno nudged An in the knees under the table did she finally say "But yes Fuji-sempai we each have a little trait that is specific to us alone. You should see the stuff that the sempai-tachi can do. Of course Sakuno, Kiki-chan, and I are no exception. "

"Oh really" Inui's glasses started to flash incredibly "You must tell us more."

"Wellllllll" Sakura stretched out her voice to make it seem more tempting. It worked. "We could _tell_ you but that would be very interesting now would it. It is MUCH easier to _show _you, ne Ami-buchou?"

"I know what you're thinking Sakura but don't even try it. You too Usio."

"Oh but Ami, it would be a lot more fun. After all I took the effort of bringing these tapes after all" Usio calmly stated her opinion even though she knew what she was about to do would earn her about 20 - 35 laps on Monday depending on the result of the videos.

"You didn't"

"I did"

"You wouldn't"

"I would"

The girls started smiling knowingly as they found out what video Usio was talking about. Although they did enjoy the torture that Ami was about to go through, they really did want to see the video again. Taki rushed from the table and came back with a TV and a DVD player. Usio promptly put in the disc much to the dissatisfaction of Ami. Everyone then crowded around the TV to see what magic would occur.

At first, they saw a plain garden. But this plain garden was somehow made livelier by the way the camera caught the different sun rays and the different angles of the plants. The video then closed up on a singular figure out in the middle of the garden. It was Ami. Very slow but beautiful music started to play in the background as she glided along the ground. Seeing as there was a pond in the background, it looked as if Ami was dancing on the surface of the water. Her movement flowed and connected smoothly, leaving the audience stunned. The drops water from the pond started to dance around her as a few koi fish started to jump in and out of the water while the sunlight hit her body, making her seem even brighter than before (if that was possible). Ami had started to slow down and come to a complete stop with her in a magnificent pose, capturing the spotlight from the lighting, the pond, and the garden itself. An image of an angel floated in everyone's mind as the video started to blur then blackout. It was a little silent before Sakura, not being able to take the silence, questioned the boys "Well? How was it?!"

They boys just stared. Then Momoshiro was brave enough to ask "Was that really Ami-sempai?"

"Of course that was me you idiot. What, I dance, big whoop."

"I mean" Kikumaru interrupted "that's just not you. You don't seem like a person who dances."

"Correct me if I'm mistaken but you did receive a scholarship to a private dance academy, no?"

"Correct Inui" This time Usio interrupted "And another thing is that Amu made the video herself. She was walking along her house garden when she saw Ami. She saw this as an opportunity and started to video tape her. Of course the beginning and end were edited a bit to fit but everything else was done on the spot."

Many oohs and aahs could be heard throughout the room while Amu blushed furiously, denying any compliments given. This little piece of information caught a certain tensai's mind instantly. Before Fuji could get a chance to tease Amu, Ami interrupted everyone and told Sakura to hurry on with everyone else's talents.

"We know that Ami has a talent for dancing while Amu loves taking videos, photos, and reading books. It is also pretty obvious that Taki loves to cook, or read about cooking, or having anything to do with food. For everyone else though, we would have to go out and show you guys."

"Well that's fine." Kikumaru said. "We could just go out right now to each designated place for each person. It could be like a field day. It'd be so much fun! Come on guys let's go!"

13 "sure"s, 1 "Fushuu", 1 "Saa", 1 "Ah", and 1 "mada mada dane" later, the Seigaku girl and boy regulars were found wandering the streets to their next destination, the YMCA.

* * *

Well that it for this chapter!! Hope you guys enjoyed it!! Everyone else's talents will come up in the chapters to come. These chapters won't take me as long (I hope....) so look forward to seeing them in the near future.

And please PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review!!!! I really look forward to these!! Thanks again!


	7. Chapter 6: A Trip to the YMCA

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Prince of Tennis. Only the OC's in this fic.**

I AM SOOOOOO SORRY! My computer totally wiped out my whole memory so I had to try and remember what the chapter was like before my dad finally fixed the computer. But I got it done and I am working on the next chapter as I type. But wow this chapter was actually pretty neat to write. This is a continuation of all the girl's talents. This time, we'll do Kiki, Sakura, and Usio. I really like their traits because it just fits them so much. Well except for Usio but it really brings out her personality (which is that she is actually a pretty decent girly girl on the inside. The only difference is that she doesn't like all those cheesy romantic movies). I won't tell you their traits, you just have to read. The place they are at is the YMCA. Hope you guys like it. Criticisms (good or bad) are very readily taken (that means review people).

**Anonymous**: Thanks again for reviewing. I really appreciate it. Oh no! I feel so sorry for your brother! I really hope your brother's girlfriend's parents allow them to date because that is just mean. I hope that works out. Are those two books good? No I haven't read those books. Are those books good as well? I am on this fetish to read as many books as I can. I have this huge list. If you could just get an account, I could have sent it to you. By the way, now that I mentioned it, why don't you have an account? Then I could just message you instead of having to do this. Oh well. What cough thing? Do you have a cold? Are you sick? Are you okay? Should I be worried? Oh my goodness I'm scared.

"talking" 'whispering' _thinking_ (Author's notes)

**Chaos With Some Love** - Chapter 6: A Trip to the YMCA.

"Tell me again why we're going to the YMCA" replied an exasperated Momoshiro. Everyone had come to the YMCA after a long walk from the Fearless Sun and were now sitting down next to a swimming pool inside of the YMCA. Everyone that is, except for Kiki.

"Oh you'll see" Sakura replied cheerfully. "This reminds me, I have to change as well. I'll see you guys later. And it's okay; I've seen her practice so many times before so I'll go ahead. Bye!" Leaving no time for explanations, Sakura leaps ahead to the changing room.

"Don't worry about her," Amane said, looking at the area her cousin just left. She then slowly turned her head towards the huge pool in front of her. "You should instead look at Kiki." Right as she said this, Kiki appeared on top of the jumping board thing (brain far, can't think of the name). She had on a dark, green one piece with black stripes and blue-green borders. Her hair was obviously in a swim cap but her bangs were threatening to peek out.

As she stepped towards the end of the board, she slowly closed her eyes and breathed in and out. As soon as she reached the edge, it looked like she tripped with one foot o the board and the other at a 45 degree angle. But she then forcefully pushed off the board with one foot and did a mini cartwheel as she transitioned into a few rolls, flips, twists, and turns before coming with a nice little plop barely audible into the pool. From there she started to swim towards the other end of the pool as gracefully as a dolphin. She weaved through the water coming back up every now and then for some air. As she neared the end of the pool, she did another mini-cartwheel so that she could get into position to push off the edge with her feet. Kiki then started to swim again to the other side but as soon as she kicked off, she spun through the water like a bullet. This method of going back and forth in the pool repeated while her audience gazed on, mesmerized by her graceful actions.

After about another minute of pure, graceful swimming, Kiki slowly got out of the pool, took a towel and came over to the regulars. After she talked to the girls for a while, she sat down on the bench nearest to the guys and sat there, looking as if she was waiting for an answer.

"Well?" she pressed. "How was it? Good, bad, average?" When the guys still gave no response, she sighed, "You guys are really bad at this. If this is surprising, my teacher would blow your mind."

"Do we want to know?" Momo finally asked.

"Not at all" Kiki replied, smiling. At this everyone chuckles and the ice is finally broken

"You know, I'm kind of scared to go see Sakura perform nyow," (A mix of nya and now) Kikumaru said as they were heading towards where Sakura is (Kiki went to go change).

"I would be scared if I were you Kikumaru. Sakura is probably more flexible than you." Taki replies. "She will definitely meet your expectations, if not surpass them."

They find her with a young lady in her early thirties coaching her. As they draw nearer, they find that the room they are in (the gymnastics room) has been set up to look like an obstacle course with beams, mats, and the thing that's like two rings attached to two strings that are attached to the ceiling (what a brain fart I'm having today. I'll just call it the hoops) as they sat on the bleachers nearest to the obstacle course, Sakura starts the show by stepping onto a mat an starting off with a little skip. Background music plays while she starts to do pirouettes into cartwheels ending with a somersault in the air. She lands on the first balance beam. She starts dancing the tango and adds in twists and spins while maintaining her balance the whole time. When she reaches the end, she does a little leap that allows her to grab onto the hoops and push herself into a vertical position with her feet straight up in the air. Sakura's legs then gracefully fall forward into a midair cartwheel and she lands on another balance beam. Here, she just does a few cartwheels. But along the way, everyone can't help but ponder on how much she looks like a slinky. At the very end, she pushes herself off the beam with her arms and does a mini somersault in the air before she lands on the mat. A little pause ensues before Usio calls out to say

"And she sticks the landing"

The girls and boys start laughing while Sakura and Kiki (who just arrived) head over to the group. The boys (except for the usual (1)) start to fawn over Sakura and Kiki for their amazing skills. They are interrupted from their fawning when they see Usio drawing furiously into her notebook. And when I mean furiously, I mean _furiously_. She was drawing so fast that even Inui couldn't tell what the mph of her drawing speed is (that is talent right there). While she's drawing, she starts talking to sakura and Kiki.

"Kiki, you did really well today except for your pushing off of the wall. If you add a little bit more power, the takeoff will then in turn be more graceful. When you use your arms, they splash the water really heavily and it is not as graceful as your legs. Be sure to ask your coach about that. Sakura, the first part was good up until you go to the second balance beam. I feel that you are lagging here. Listen to the music and make sure you are in time with it. You weren't as graceful today s you usually were but it will have to do. Did you even stretch at all today?"  
"Maybe…"

"That's what I though. Other than that, you girls did really well today. I have your pictures right here."

AS she said this, Usio held up two piles of pictures. She gave one to Kiki and gave the other to Sakura. Of course, everyone had a glimpse of the drawings and were they shocked. Kikumaru had to convince himself that he was in a gymnastics room, not a movie theater. The rest of the girls just smiled while Sakuno started to talk.

"As usual, Usio-sempai's drawings are beautiful and gorgeous."

Momoshiro whipped his head around so fast that the girls swore they heard his neck pop. "you mean to tell us that this is her talent?"

An smirked, "Obviously. Out of all of us, Usio-sempai has the neatest handwriting, the cleanest notes, and the most beautiful drawings. I even think she sold a few of her paintings. But don't mention any of this to her. She feels that drawing is something she shouldn't do even though she loves it."

Inui had this questioning look on his face and he would have voiced his question had the other three girls not come back. For now, he just let it go and made a mental note to ask later.

"Sugoi nya! You can jump! HIGH!"

"Of course I can, baka (2). I can jump higher than you"

"No you can't!"

"Eiji! Be nice!"

"Sakura, stop gloating!"

"Iii data…Hey give that back!"

"Only I can take data on my teammates. Besides, information in here could be used for great blackmailing purposes."

"Fushuu…you must have really worked hard to get enough leg power to swim like that"

"Yep. I just work out a lot but my stamina increased because of the whole non-breathing thing"

"Ehh. Maybe she can beat your ridiculous stamina Mamushi"

"Not even close baka-peach"

"What did you say!"

"Bring it on! Fushuu!"  
"Calm down you two! An, help me here!"

"Don't bother Kiki-sempai. It's not going to work"

"Wow. The girls really are good at other stuff. It's really ama-GREATO! GIRLS SURE CAN ROCK! NNDORYA! WE CAN'T LOSE! OUR MEN'S PRIDE IS ON THE LINE!"

"That what I was thinking too Kawamura-san. I mean these girls are just so great - - but it seems all I can do is cook. Why can't I do anything cool like that. It's always everyone else…"

"FUJIKO!"

"AMU-CHI!"

"Very nice Suzuki-san. Perfect timing."  
*blushes*"No, it's nothing. Your timing was much better than mine. Nothing less from a genius"

"Mada Mada Dane"

*sigh* (This is Sakuno)

No matter how stoic Tezuka can be, he felt a major migraine coming on. And to think they still had three more talents coming up. As for Ami, if people looked close enough on her forehead they could see a vein popping out and throbbing violently. Had anyone seen this, they would have expected what came next. But they didn't see it, so they were thoroughly scared and surprised.

"KORA (3)! CAN'T YOU GUYS BE QUIET FOR AT LEAST FIVE MINUTES!"

Everyone (yes everyone) immediately shut up and stood in a straight line facing Ami.

"Geez!" And I thought my team was loud and obnoxious. Remind me to never put these two teams together again."

A lot of whining ensued.

"SILENCE! Now listen and listen closely because I'm not going to repeat myself. We have two more performances to go through. And yes Oishi, I know what I'm saying. We won't do Amane's talent because I have a feeling that hers will show up really soon. Now in a nice, neat orderly fashion, we are going to our last stop. Got it?"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" Everybody (except the usual) chanted.

"Good! Now follow me!" Ami swiftly turned and started to walk out the door until she suddenly stopped and whirled around once more. "But go change first Sakura. I don't want you to go to an ice rink in leotards"

"…that would probably be a good idea"

*Sweat drop*

As Sakura went to go change, Momoshiro leaned over to Amu (they were still in the line) and whispered "Is Ami-sempai always like this?"

"No. She's really a sweet girl. But once in a new moon (4) and every time she gets a headache, she turns into Dictator Ami. It's really not that bad once you get used to it. Just follow what she says and she won't rip your head off and stuff it down a toilet."

*MAJOR sweat drop*

Sakuno turns to the guys to say "Yeah. That was my reaction too. But look, now that her headache is gone, she is back to our lovable, sweet buchou! Well she's sweet most of the time."

"I heard that Sakuno. I'll let it go for now since Sakura's coming. It's you turn next with An. Ready?"

"Hai" replied both the girls as they exited the YMCA to their next destination.

As for the boys, well they found out about two things. One, there is much about the girls that they don't know about, and two, sometimes girls can be WAY more interesting than boys.

**Whew! I think this was the longest chapter that I wrote. That is probably to make up for the long wait. Again I'm really sorry about that. But I already started the next chapter and you should get it in about a week-ish. I will upload faster now that school is over.**

**Next up is our two best friends, Sakuno and An. After that, I'm debating whether to do fluff scenes or tennis scenes. If you guys have any ideas/comment/flames or anything for that matter, PLEASE REVIEW! But thanks for all those people who are reading this!**

– **When I mean the usual, I mean Tezuka, Fuji, Ryoma, and sometimes Kaidoh and Inui, depending on the situation. But I don't want to type all those names out so I'll just say the usual.**

**Baka – idiot**

**Kora – hey**

**New moon – This is supposed to be a double meaning. If you don't get it, think about the moon, the moon cycle, and when the new moon comes up. Like every 28 some days…if you don't get it by now either I'm really bad at double meanings or you're just plain stupid.**


	8. Chapter 7: A Cold Note

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Prince of Tennis. Only the OC's in this fic and the ideas.**

REALLY sorry for the HUGE delay again people but it's pretty hard to do the talent stuff and this writing thing is pretty hard as well! I don't know how others can write really well and write really long chapters as well. This chapter itself took a long time… After this I'm debating whether to do more fluff or tennis scenes. You guys decide and tell me!

_**PLEASE REVIEW!**_

"talking" 'whispering' _thinking_ (Author's notes)

**Chaos With Some Love** - Chapter 7: A Cold Note

"If I remember correctly, Sakuno-chan sings while Tachibana-san ice skates right?"  
"Yes Fuji-sempai." Sakuno replies as the gang exits the YMCA. They had seen Ami's amazing dancing skills with Amu's awesome videotaping. They also found out that Taki can cook really well and Usio draws to perfection. Finally, after witnessing Kiki and her swimming skills along with sakura and her gymnastic abilities, the regulars are heading to their last destination to watch Sakuno and An perform before going home.

"Our coaches are actually dating right now, so when they found out that we knew each other, they immediately started doing join classes. That's how we became best of friends. Right, An?"

"Pretty much. Ichino-sensei teaches me while Kyoko-sensei is Sakuno's coach. What we pretty much do is that while I'm practicing my drills, Sakuno warms up. We then choreograph my moves using songs that Sakuno knows. It's easier that way because we don't have to worry about CD problems. That and I just love to hear her voice."

"An!"

"Eh! What song are you going to do Sakuno-chan" Kikumaru asks while glomping onto said singer. It wasn't until she started turning blue that Kikumaru let go.

"Well I'm not actually sure. We have a lot of songs that we choreographed together but I'm not sure which one we should do for you guys."

"We should probably do that one Sakuno"  
"No that's too tough"

"Well then how about-"

"No, no. Let's try-"

"Too easy! That one is so much better!"

"No! That one's too embarrassing!"

"Oh for the love of sweet potatoes pick one already!" cried Sakura, a hint of impatience in her face.

"fine. We'll do Reflection from Mulan because it's pretty and it's easy for me to skate with."

Taki squeals "Oh I love that one"

"Have you seen them skate sempai?"

"Nope!"

*anime fall*

"Sempai! Don't mislead me like that!"

"Ah gomen gomen Kiki!"

"Now that I think about it" Amu starts "I don't think any of us have seen them perform. They were suspiciously elusive about it."

"Well you would do the same thing if you've got maniac senseis like we do. And that's when they are apart. Don't even ask about when they are together. It's worse than Fuji-san! No offense!"

"None taken"

"Oh here we are!"

Standing in front of them was a decent sized ice rink that had a lot of customers despite it only being two months before school ending (1) The outside was simple with one sign that says: A Cold Note.

"Ne, Ne (2) Sakuno. What does that mean?" Sakura points to the sign.

"Well this is actually Ichino-sensei's own ice rink. He proposed to Kyoko-sensei a few months ago so he decided to rename the rink to incorporate something of Kyoko-sensei."

"Wait! They're getting married! That's going to be terrible!

"Yeah thanks An." A sarcastic voice called out. 18 heads turned to meet the eyes of a tall, light toned, green eyed man with long dark brown hair that is a mix between Fuji and Oshitari. Beside him is a slim lady with long dirty blonde hair that reached mid-back and curled in ringlets at the very end. Her light blue eyes reflected the 4 o' clock sun. "I had told you about our marriage the day after I proposed!"

"Well Ichino-sensei, I don't usually listen to you about stuff like that."

"Why you little-"

"Maa, Maa (3) Ichi. It's okay. It's not like you expected her to listen anyway."

"But still… Whatever. Aren't you going to introduce us Sakuno?"

"Hai! This is both male and female tennis team regulars from my school."

"Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu!"

"Awwwww! You guys are so cute! Aren't they adorable Ichi! They're like little puppies!"

"Yeah, vicious little puppies"

Kyoko ignored this while going over to Sakura.

"Especially you. You remind me of my little puppy back at home."

"Awwwww thank you! I would love to see you dog. Do you have any pictures?"

"no but I do have pictures of Sakuno in certain suits-"

"KYOKO-SENSEI!"

"Oh goodness. I told you they were terrible. It's like Sakura-sempai and Kyoko-sensei are partners-in-crime."

"I have pictures of An in her skating dress in certain poses as well"

"I'll take two of each."

"Ichino-sensei! Usio-sempai!"

"95% chance that I want some too"

"Saa… Don't' forget some for me."

"Mou sempai-tachi… can we go inside before we get embarrassed even more."

True to her word, a light pink hue was spread across both girls' faces. When everyone stepped inside the door, they see a little room with a shop on the left and the ticket booth on the right. The shop had various articles of clothing ranging from socks to jackets. Some people who had forgotten scarves bought some from the shop and went to go get tickets to go inside.

"Do they actually have to buy it" Momo asked as he remembered his empty wallet. _I really shouldn't have eaten those extra burgers_

"These are on the house. But they don't buy it anyway." Kyoko explains while Ichino returns with scarves for all of them. "They rent it and give it back when they're done."

Kikumaru stops as he reexamines his own scarf, looking at it with a face of disgust.

"Oh don't worry, we wash all the used stuff everyday so they are all perfectly clean"

"Come on people get a move on."

They buy their tickets and enter through the double doors that lead to the rink. Once inside, a collective gasp is heard.

The inside of the room was huge with the rink in the center in an oval shape. On the longer ends, rows of bleachers are placed while the shorter ends had tables and cafes. In the two cafes, hot chocolate, soup, sandwiches, smores and various food items are listed. Music was blaring as the sound bounced off the ice and walls and reverberated through the whole building.

Ami felt the music flow through her body and fill her up with a warm glow radiating from her body. She started to sway when Amu put a hand on her shoulder and smiled lightly.

"We got to bear it for now."

"Yeah I know…"

Unknown to them as they walked towards the group, a gleam of glasses and a flicker of blue was seen before disappearing into the shadows.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

"Because we don't want to take up all of the customer's time, we'll just go to the mini rink. It's just next door."

The smaller rink looked almost like the main rink except for there being only a few bleachers with no cafes. An goes to get her skates while Ichino checks the ice. Sakuno and Kyoko go warm up as everyone else walks over to the small bleachers to sit down. An comes out of the room in the back with sweatpants and a scarf around her neck, covering whatever her long sleeve shirt couldn't. She heads over to the bleachers to put her skates on and to explain to the others.

"Sakuno will be right next to the rink because I need to hear her as clearly as I can. The room echoes so you're still going to hear her perfectly. It's also the English version so if you can't understand her, then too bad"

"An-chan…"

"An hurry up! We're ready over here"

"Coming! So lean back, relax, and enjoy the show."

The lights dimmed a little to give the room a smoldering glow. The ice was still visible along with all the other people so the spotlight wasn't needed. But as soon as An stepped on the ice and Sakuno stepped next to the rink, their bodies mysteriously shimmered.

"1…2…and-" Music filled the room. An glided forward and Sakuno opened her mouth.

(**bold = singing** _italics = skating moves performed by An_)

**Look at me I will never pass for a perfect bride**

**Or a perfect daughter**

_Scratch spin_

**Can it be I'm not meant to play this part?**

_Spiral_

**Now I see that if I were truly to be myself**

**I would break my family's heart**

**Who is that girl I see**

_Salchow_

**Staring straight back at me**

**Why is my reflection someone I don't know?**

_Spiral_

**Somehow I cannot hide who I am though I've tried**

_Triple lutz_

**When will my reflection show who I am inside**

_A really big spin that ends with the music_

**When will my reflection show who I am inside.**

(Think of any other moves that can be incorporated and use your imagination)

"Very nice! Good job girls" Kyoko clapped as she stepped forward.

"It was only good cause it was easy"

"Ichi!"

"I'm kidding. Wonderful job ladies"

"Arigatou sensei-tachi"

"Now you really should go over there and unfreeze some of your friends."  
"Oh god, I can just feel the headache coming."

"We must endure it An."

"That's rude!" Ami says as she overhears the two girls coming over. "I should teach you two some manners. Get ready for some intense training."

"Oh anything but that Ami-buchou" Sakuno cries "I remember the last time that happened. Usio-sempai's drinks were better than that."

"Oi! What do you mean by that? Wait, never mind. I have some drawings that may help you An, so don't forget to give it to your coach. But you two really did beautifully."

"That's right" Sakura exclaimed. "We're not that bad. And unlike you guys, we're not rude. Ne Kiki?"

"Don't drag me into this. See now you made An mad now."

True to her word, An had her skates in her hands looking ready to kill if Sakuno hadn't been grabbing onto her.

"Let go of me, Sakuno"

"No An! Remember, you must endure it. She's your sempai! Don't forget it. Sempai! Sem-pai! S-E-M-P-A-I! Seeeeeeeempaiiiiiiiiiiii!"

"But they make it so hard! I can't help it!"

"Oi! We're right here. Besides you guys really did do wonderfully." Taki came over and simply smiled. An looked at her once and heaved a big sigh before smiling lightly.

"Mou I can't go against that"

"That's right. Now let's go to the guys. They seem to be surprisingly okay about all this."

"Sakuno-chan! Tachibana-chan! Great job!" Kikumaru jumped on both girls and clung to them like Velcro. Then he attached himself to two poor, unlucky, unfortunate boys. "It was great wasn't it Momo-chi, Ochibi?"

"It was sempai! Good job girls."

"Ah. Nice job"

Both girls blinked twice in unison before smiling sweetly and saying "Arigatou!"

Momoshiro and Echizen blushed lightly but look next to them when they heard a click and saw a camera being held by both photography loving sempai's.

"Awwwww! I got the two girls in the most adorable picture ever! I don't have the boys though. It's a shame."

"Don't worry Suzuki-san; I have the boys but not the girls. We should probably put it together sometime. But I think there is a problem with the lighting or these two are blushing. What do you say to that boys, huh?"

Both said boys blushed madly and looked at everything but the girls and their evil sempai. An and Sakuno blinked innocently between all three people, not having a clue what's going on. Kiki comes over and leads both girls towards the door.

"Let's keep your innocence for now. Besides it's already 4:30. I told my mom I'd come early to help clean the house."

Ami comes forward "We really should go everyone. Arigato gozaimasu Ichino-san and Kyoko-san for taking care of us today."

"It was no problem at all. Come back anytime you want. You guys are too adorable to be any trouble at all, really."

The two teachers waved a last goodbye at the entrance before leaving back to their customers. The group of young teens converged near the front door to just talk, not wanting to go home. But of course, chores needed to be done back at home, so people started to reluctantly leave.

"Wait girls." Ami speaks up. She had just stopped talking to Tezuka. "I wanted to tell you guys that tomorrow (Monday) we will report to the men's tennis courts instead of ours for practice."  
"Why, Ami?" Amane, asked, confused about her buchou's actions. It looked like Amu and Usio knew what was going on along with Tezuka, Fuji, and Inui.

Usio was the one who explained it to them. "Actually, a Mixed National Tournament is going to happen."

"EH! NO WAY!" It seems that the boys along with the girls didn't know about the sudden news. Their faces revealed shocked and surprised emotions.

"I don't want to have to go through that again! And why now? What about finals? We just went through the Nationals just last month (4)." Sakura whine.

"That's right!" Momoshiro exclaimed, clearly shocked. "I also don't want to defeat all those teams along with all the girls right before our finals!"

"Don't worry," Fuji calmed down the 2nd year. "We only have to face the boys and figure out the champion. They do the same with the girls. Then the two champions face each other in the last round. That's it."

"Fuji is right. And this tournament is the week after finals too. We'll have plenty of time." Inui had finally looked up from his notebook.

"That's why" Ami explained "we're going to go train with the boys just for tomorrow. And we're just going to do a light warm-up and then some matches."

"I should probably ask my captain what we're doing tomorrow" An contemplated.

Kawamura had a question above his head. "Wait, you're not on the Seigaku team?"

"No remember, I am on the Fudomine team. Besides they have their eight people don't they. Oh yeah, what about you guys? Aren't there nine of you?"

Tezuka answered this time. "Depending on the team we are facing, we will change the players we use."

"Ah! Buchou, I remembered I have relatives coming over tomorrow, so I can't make practice." Momoshiro said to Tezuka, who merely nodded.

"Everyone else, report to the male tennis courts for practice tomorrow."

"Hai!"

The players then start to go back home. A slim, black haired, figure turns to look back to the ice rink. "When will my reflection show who I am inside…..huh…" This same figure then turns to catch up with her twin.

**And that's it for now! This is actually getting a little easier now that I know what I'm going to be writing about. Before I just used to make it up as I go….. Anyway I figured out I was going to do tennis scenes next then have the fluff scenes. If you guys have any ideas/comment/flames or anything for that matter, PLEASE REVIEW! But thanks for all those people who are reading this!**

**I finally decided what the time line is. Right now, I'm just going to use the American school format so they would be taking the exams in the beginning of June and the time right now would be Sometime in April.**

**Ne – close to "hey". Used when calling someone over.**

**Maa – close to "there". Used to calm someone down**

**I am guessing that they have the Nationals a few months before school ending. If not, then that's how it works in this fanfiction….**


	9. Chapter 8: All in a Day's Work

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Prince of Tennis. Only the OC's in this fic and the ideas.**

I loved this chapter cause it was actually pretty long and I updated as fast as I could too! I liked it and I hope you like it too. So I'm just gonna shut up and let you read this. Just one more thing: _**PLEASE REVIEW!**_

"talking" _thinking_ (Author's notes)

**Chaos With Some Love** – Chapter 8 : All In A Day's Work.

A light shone through the window, effectively waking up two sleeping girls.

"Ohayou (1) Amu"

"Ohayou Ami"

These two sleepy girls got out of bed and started their morning business. They sleepily brushed their teeth and sleepily combed their hair and sleepily made their beds (note: They're REALLY tired…) Amu was washing her face and Ami was putting on her uniform when out of the blue, Ami spoke.

"I don't know about you, but today seems like a really good day."

"I know. I can feel it too. I can't wait."

"….Do you smell blueberry pancakes? Yum, my favorite!"

"Ami, Amu, come down for breakfast."

"Hai nii-san (2)!"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

A 17-year old boy was calmly eating his breakfast. His mother called not ten seconds after he was done eating.

"Kunimitsu, your friend is here."

"Coming okaa-san (3)"

Tezuka got his books, said goodbye to his father and his grandfather, and got his shoes before meeting that person at the front door.

"Ya (4), ohayou Tezuka"

"Ohayou Fuji"

With a final goodbye to his mother, both guys set off to school. It wasn't long before Fuji noticed something different about his friend.

"What's up Tezuka? You seem somewhat happy today."

"Really? I don't know. I just feel good today."

True to his word, he did feel good. As he looked up to the clear blue sky, streaks of black swept along his view.

"Ah Taka-san! Ohayou!" Tezuka looked down as Fuji waved to Kawamura across the street. As usual, he was helping his dad bring in fish into the store. A minute later, he reappeared with his books and uniform all neat and in place. He looked both ways before crossing the street to join the other two.

"Ohayou Fuji, Tezuka" Fuji smiled again (that doesn't count cause he's always smiling) and Tezuka nodded.

"Isn't it such a good day out? My dad and I were looking at the fish today and they turned out exceptionally. When I told him about the Mixed Nationals last night, he said we could use the shop whenever we wanted if we just told him a heads up."

"Saa, that would be wonderful. I could get as much wasabi sushi as I could eat. Ne Taka-san, have you heard of this new spicy tomato sauce? It's really good. It has…."

As Fuji trailed on, Tezuka gradually let himself drift from the conversation. As he looked along the sidewalk, he saw some black and brown streaks going on the path to Seigaku.

_Yes, today is going to be a VERY good day._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Ohayou Amane-chan"

"Ohayou gozaimasu (5) stepdad (6). Is Sakura up yet?"

"Amane-chan. How many times must I ask you to call me Daichi. And no, Sakura is still sleeping. I suggest you not wake her up though. She's really cranky when she wakes up."

"No need dad. I'm already up. Ohayou Amane"

A very irritated Sakura comes down the stairs in rumpled pajamas and messy hair. Amane knew she was upset for three reasons. One, she walked with more fervor than usual. Two, she radiated pissed off energy. And three, she didn't call her Amane-chi.

_Note to self: Never cross an angry Sakura._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Here Oishi-kun, have another cookie while you wait for my stupid little brother."

"Hahaha. Arigatou Karin-san"

"Oi nee-san (7)! Where's my toothpaste? You took it again didn't you?"

Karin walks over and klonks Kikumaru swiftly over the head.

"Baka (8). You left it in your room so that I couldn't get it remember?"

"Oh yeah….. sorry… Ah Oishi! Ohayou!"

"Ohayou Eiji." Even Oishi could barely handle Kikumaru's hyperness this early in the morning. The ability to tune out Kikumaru became a useful tool as he started to reminisce about yesterday's events. It was intense and a lot of fun, but he was surprised that he wasn't up all night wondering if the girls were sore or tired at all. Maybe he should ask Tezuka to change the menu a little for today to fit the girl's needs and all or maybe-

"Oi Oishi! Are you even listening to me!"

"Ah gomen Eiji."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"I knew you would be here, Kaidoh"

"Inui-sempai… Ohayou gozaimasu"

Kaidoh looked up from practicing in the river by the bridge. He found this place soothing and calming. After his daily morning jog, he comes back to this place to cool down before heading to morning practice. Inui usually gets up later for his morning jog and once in a while meets Kaidoh at the river.

"Ne Kaidoh. What do you think about upping your training for the Mixed Nationals? I have a feeling we might all need it."

"That's okay with me sempai. If you think we do, then our opponent must really be tough."

Inui smiled lightly at Kaidoh's words. "Yes, I guess they are."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Kiki walked through the streets, knowing that she was still a little too early for practice. On the way there, she heard a familiar voice.

"Move that over there. Wait, that goes there. Ah Kiki! Ohayou!"

"Ohayou Taki-sempai. You sure are working hard."

There was a truck next to Taki's restaurant. Men were unloading boxes of ingredients that would then be stored in the many refrigerators. Kiki grimaced as soon as she saw the contents of the boxes. Taki looked over and then chuckled quietly when she saw the various fish in the boxes.

"You're still a very strong vegetarian, aren't you Kiki?"

"Of course! I mean I have fish and pets at home and I just can't bear the fact that people can actually eat animals. That's just cruel. I mean, yeah, there are animals that eat humans but there are just a few of them. We defend ourselves pretty well too. And considering how much we humans eat it's-"

"Alright, alright! If you're really into the subject, you get really passionate about it, don't you?"

Kiki flushed at her forwardness. And at a sempai no less.

"Ah! Gomen Taki-sempai." She bends her head down a little to show that she is ashamed of her actions.

"I never said it was a bad thing. When you grow up, that can be a really good trait. Don't forget that. Oh, if you can wait for a few minutes, we can go to practice together."

"Hai, sempai." As Taki went back inside to get ready, Kiki looked on in wonder. She was moved and touched by the advice her sempai just showed. Kiki's eyes filled with admiration. The advice went straight to her heart for safekeeping.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Usio was jogging and listening to her iPod as well. She had decided to take a new, longer route to school that she had just recently discovered. Her music blared in her ears but she paid it little attention. The steady beating of her heart matched the pace of her feet. Her breathing mixed in with the melody easily. As she looked around, she saw beautifully taken care of trees and shrubs surrounding the path she was taking. An opening in the trees showed the way to the park while another showed the bustling morning city. Usio made a mental note to come back later to take some drawings.

As she trudged along, Usio went across a bridge that was above a river. She looked over the edge and saw two familiar boys talking. She slowed to a trot and stopped altogether, putting her iPod away. One of the boys was standing in the shallower part of the river. He looked like he was doing something until the other, taller guy came. Usio managed to hear tidbits of their conversation before they packed up and left. She leaned again the railing, thinking about what she just overheard.

_Mixed Nationals, huh?_

She smirked and continued on her jog. Usio knew that from now one, she would definitely use this path.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

*Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep* *Klonk*

"…."

"…."

"Meow"

"Ughhhh….five more minutes Karupin"

"Meow, Meow, Meow."

"….Alright alright I'm up! You can stop hitting me now Karupin." A very sleepy Ryoma got up and yawned. He watched his feline friend stalk off before finally looking at the clock with half-lidded eyes. Those eyes widened when he realized what time it was.

"I'm going to be late!"

"He whooshed around his room with a speed acquired from years of tennis practice. He skipped his shower because he had practice this morning. He hurriedly brushed his teeth, took the stairs two at a time, grabbed a piece of toast and a bottle of milk, which he gulped down on the way out the door, only to see his spiky-haired sempai pass by running at a sprint.

"Echizen! Hurry up! We're going to be late!"

"Momo-sempai! Ah, wait up!" Ryoma hurried on almost forgetting to take his favorite hat. He struggled a bit on his full stomach before finally catching up with his sempai. Let's just say that they were in such a hurry that they didn't see two equally hurried girls before they crashed into them. Two screams were heard before time slowed down on all four people.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Sakuno put the final touches in her hair, deciding that today she would put it in a ponytail.

"Yep. It's perfect." She put on her clothes and rushed downstairs. There she sees her grandmother eating and talking with one of her best friends.

"Ohayou An, obaa-chan."

"Ohayou"

Sakuno sits down at the table and the three of them have a comfortable time together. That is until Sakuno looks at the time.

"Ah! An, it's already this late! We have to hurry!"

"Oh you're right! Let's go. Thanks again Sumire-san for breakfast."

"Anytime! Now be careful on your way there. Have fun!"

"Hai obaa-chan. So, ittekimasu (9)!"

"Itterashai (10)!"

The two girls grabbed their stuff and sprinted off towards their schools. Because they weren't looking where they were going, they definitely didn't expect to crash into two other people. Time slowed as they both anticipated to hit the ground and waited for the pain. When nothing came, they finally realized that their saviors had grabbed both of them around the waist, preventing their misfortune. When they looked up, they were shocked to say the least.

"Momoshiro-kun!"

"Ryoma-kun!"

"Tachibana-imouto!"

"Ryuzaki."

There was a painfully awkward silence until both blushing boys let go of their equally blushing counterparts. They silently gathered their stuff before turning to face each other.

"S-so, after playing tennis for all these years, you still can't get a decent enough balance?" Momoshiro decided to tease them to lighten the thick atmosphere. The reaction from An was adorable as she huffed lightly.

"We have perfect enough balance. It's just that you guys can't control your speed that we bumped into each other."

"What did you say?" Momoshiro retorted back. Sakuno and Ryoma just casually watched them before noticing each other.

"Arigatou Ryoma-kun. You really helped me." Sakuno smiled lightly, to which Ryoma couldn't help but stare.

"Hn. Betsuni (11)." He still managed to keep his composure.

"No, no, no Echizen. Say that it was no trouble at all to Sakuno-chan properly."

"That's right Echizen-kun. That was very rude." With two very determined sempai's, Ryoma couldn't help but comply. He sighed before turning to Sakuno "It was no trouble, really."

"Ah….." It took some time to get over her sempai's antics before properly responding "It was really our fault anyway so it's okay"

Momoshiro let go of this hold on Ryoma to ask "So why were you guys in such a rush?"

"We were just on our way…..to…..school..."

"….."

"Oh crap"

All four high school students finally realized what was happening. They wondered for a split second what they were still standing there for before shooting off to school. Two streets later, the three Seigaku students said a hasty goodbye to An before rushing of so that they wouldn't be even more late. Luckily, due to their intensive training, they somehow managed to make it on time to the school grounds. Momoshiro and Ryoma said another goodbye to Sakuno before all three of them headed off to practice.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Ah! What a practice!" Kawamura shakes his wet hair after coming out of the showers. Morning practice was over and all the regulars were able to take nice long showers because Tezuka let them end practice earlier than usual. "Tezuka is in a really good mood isn't he?"

"He was in a good mood this morning too Taka-san, remember? Weren't you Tezuka?" Fuji smiles a little evilly while asking Tezuka. "Saa, I thought I saw the Suzuki twins on our way to school but it might just be my imagination. But they are really pretty girls though. Right, Tezuka?"

Our favorite captain's eyebrow started to twitch. After a period of silence where everyone was awaiting his answer, he said "Ah."

All the regulars just turned their backs and snickered silently. After a few more eyebrow twitching moments, Fuji finally relented and said "Okay everyone, it's time to go. Fun's over. We want to keep our little captain for the practice this afternoon don't we?"

"Fuji….."

"Hai, hai, hai, I'm going."

Everyone outright laughed this time before taking Fuji's advice and going to homeroom.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Ah! Mizu (12), mizu, mizu, mizu, mizu!" Sakura bounced around the whole locker room trying to pry water from any substance.

Taki, being the concerned being she is, asked Ami "What's wrong? Did something happen? Today's practice was really tough, so you must be in a bad mood."

"Oh that makes me feel loads better Taki." Ami's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"95% chance that it has something to do with food, 4% chance that it's something to do with the boys and 1% chance of it being other"

"Now you think I'm a glutton too! That's great."

"But Ami, we always thought you were a glutton"

"Shut up Sakura"

"Hahaha! It actually is about food though."

"Amu! Don't tell them!"

"What! They deserve to know. Or should I tell the boys instead?"

"…fine…"

"So we were having breakfast when…"

**~_~FLASHBACK~_~**

"….Do you smell blueberry pancakes? Yum, my favorite!"

"Ami, Amu, come down for breakfast!"

"Hai nii-san"

The two girls finished their preparations and went downstairs; awaiting the breakfast they were going to have. A tall, lean, handsome fellow was in the kitchen making blueberry pancakes, waffles, bacon, and scrambled eggs.

"Mmmmm, everything smells and looks delicious for once nii-san. What's the special occasion?"

"Oh it's nothing Ami. But it's nice to know that my food isn't always that good. Ohayou Amu."

"Ohayou. Ah! Ohayou Snoopy." A huge, black Labrador Retriever comes through the back door after having a little privacy in the morning. He looks around the room and barks once he sees Amu. He's so excited because Amu hasn't been home lately, mainly because of the tutoring, but also because she has been going to the library way more than often. Snoopy loved Amu the best out of all three. She was sweet, kind, and knew all the right places to pet him. Ami just ate a lot or trained, so she ended up being really boring, unless Snoopy got a treat every now and then. And Touya, their nii-san, was never home to begin with, so Snoopy really bonded with Amu. After giving another really high pitched bark, Snoopy runs over to Amu and jumps atop her. The momentum from the run knocks Amu into the table, making everything fly everywhere. The pancakes stick to the wall, the waffles and bacon scatter around the room, and the scrambled eggs spill over the tables, walls, windows, and doors. Miraculously, nothing came onto the people or the dog. Ami was sitting down and in the process of putting her favorite blueberry pancakes in her mouth when it was knocked over. Everything is still as the whole scene is looked over. A very pissed off Ami slowly stands up. A black aura surrounds her as she approaches her sister and the very thing she is pissed off at. She picks up the dog and throws it outside. In the same motion, she picks up her bag and heads towards the door. She would have gotten all the way outside unless Touya hadn't stopped her.

"Ah, wait Ami. I know this isn't the time to say this but I have a really important meeting and I don't have the time to clean this up so could you and Amu do it for me, please?"

Ami stops as her hand is on the handle. She slowly puts her bag down and heads to the panty. She comes out with a lot of cleaning supplies, which she hands half to Amu before starting to clean up the mess. Amu waves goodbye to her brother before silently helping her sister. One thing's for sure, she is not going to get on the bad side of Ami today.

**~_~END OF FLASHBACK~_~**

"….after that we cleaned up the entire kitchen from head to toe. We were going to be late so we skipped breakfast and ran to the school. That is why Ami's cranky right now. She needs her breakfast. Thankfully, we have Home Ec right after home room and I heard we were making Macadamia White Chocolate Nut cookies so she just has to hold on until then. Otherwise, we'd all be in BIG trouble right now for talking badly about her."

"Ooooooooooooh" The regulars all knew what was bugging their captain and for their sake, they just hoped that Ami's cookies turned out really good.

"The Dragon Lady has appeared!" They also hoped that Ami wouldn't kill Sakura before she had anything to eat.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Ami! Matte (13)!" Amu ran to catch up to Ami again after losing her for the 4th time. "I know you're hungry and cranky and just want some food, but at least slow down a little. You'll lose all your energy before even making the food! Ami!" Amu was running so fast that she tripped over a random book lying on the ground (who would leave a book there! Honestly! And also….déjà vu much….), but before she hit the ground, two slender hands caught her and steadied her on the ground. Amu looked up to stare into the eyes of…..well the eyelids of Fuji. Amu blushed when she saw the position she was in. One of Fuji's arms was wrapped around her waist while the other had grabbed onto one of her arms to steady her. It wasn't until she finally realized that she would have fallen if he hadn't been there before backing up and bowing immensely.

"Fuji-san, arigatou gozaimasu."

"Oh it was nothing. I couldn't let you fall now could I?"

Amu blushed a light pink before stuttering and fussing about how she could have probably gotten up by herself and that even if she did fall then it wouldn't have been that big of a deal. She was looking very flustered while Fuji looked immensely amused. He took the class at the beginning of the year just so that he could see how Tezuka cooked (a decent cooker by the way) but now he had a whole new reason to go to class.

"Will you two chatter bugs hurry up? If we are late to class then the teacher will be mad at us and give us all the bad ingredients. And if that happens, I'm going to show you a world of pain."

Ami had finally stopped and was waiting for the two of them with Tezuka. He had seen the way she was seething and fuming but honestly had no idea as to the reason why. Inside of his mind, he contemplated this issue again and again, flipping and turning the thing around until he had no more clues as to guess what the reason was. When Ami finally spoke, he finally understood why she was so upset. Tezuka was pleased (on the inside of course) because this mystery was like a puzzle to him. And Tezuka loved puzzles. He would work at it little by little until he finally figured it out. To him, Ami was one big puzzle just waiting to be solved. And like all puzzles, he would work at it one step at a time until he could finally rest and proudly say that he has finally finished it.

The four of them walked into class and seated themselves into pairs, Ami and Amu with Tezuka and Fuji in front of them. It started off smoothly when the teacher gave them the instructions and ingredients. The dough was ready and everybody got the trays out. They were told to take boiling hot water and clean the trays with it. Ami had gotten a tub of hot water ready to bring it to Amu when another girl in the class rushed past her to ask the teacher a favor. She accidently bumped into her, causing Ami to lose balance and crash into a chair. As she fell over, the water went all over her left side of the body, from her shoulders to her ankles. The same chair she crashed into falls painfully into her left knee, giving her a nice, clean bruise. She winces in pain as everyone circles around her.

"Ami, are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere?" Ami examined her knee and saw that she couldn't move her leg that well. Fuji noticed it too and decided to take action. He wasn't going to let his best friend just stand there at not take notice of his own feelings. He was going to take this opportunity into his own hands.

"Sensei, it's probably better if Suzuki-san goes to the nurse to treat the bruise and the burn."

"Yes that would probably be a good idea."

"Tezuka, why not accompany her there. It looks like she won't make it on her own. Then again it looks like she can barely walk. Besides, you're pretty much the strongest in the class too."

A lot of boys and girls started to complain and resist this arrangement, but after Fuji surrounded himself with a deadly aura, they backed off.

"Yes Tezuka-kun. It would be best if you did that. Thank you."

"Hai, sensei. Let's go Suzuki-san" Tezuka picked up Ami bridal style. This indicated a round of blushing and fussing from said girl. It was when they got to the door when she realized something.

"Matte! Go back!"

"Eh. Why?"

"I WANT MY COOKIES!"

As the rest of the class sweat dropped, Tezuka could only heave a sigh and carry on.

"Ah! MY COOOOOOKIIIIIIEEEEEEEES!"

As they got halfway down the hall, Ami finally stopped struggling, giving a small cute, little huff. Noticing this, Tezuka asked her what was wrong.

"…"

"Suzuki-san?"

*sigh* "You could have at least brought the cookie dough…."

Tezuka lightly smiled (and I mean LIGHTLY) before responding "I'll tell your sister to bring you the finished cookies after we're done cooking them."

Ami sighed and smiled happily. "Wai (14)! I get to eat some cookies" Ami had a giddy expression on her face before she realized the position she was in. She blushed madly

"Tezuka-san. Arigatou for taking me to the nurse's office"

"You're welcome"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"So if you take the quantity of this and multiply it by nine, divide by three, and take the square root, you should get the answer."

Amane's head swirled as she tried to understand everything Oishi was trying to tell her. They both had math first period and their teacher had given them a free period to study for the upcoming test. Oishi came over when he saw that she was having a hard time with one of the lessons. Amane couldn't take it anymore and just put her head down to rest.

"Daijobu? Do you have a headache? Should I get you come water? Or maybe you want some Tylenol or Advil? Or maybe you don't have a headache and a pill of Advil will make it worse? Do you feel queasy? Should I get the-"

"Oishi-san, I am fine. Please stop worrying."

"Gomen. But I am surprised. Sakuno-san said that all you girls were really smart."

"We are but just in certain subjects. Math is not my strong point…."

"Well I'll be happy to help. I'm not very good but I do know this lesson very well."

Oishi went back to looking at the papers they had scattered along the desk. Amane just continued to stare at him. Oishi felt eyes on him so he looked up to come face to face with Amane just 3 inches away.

"You know, you look just like my fish."

"Ah thank you….I think…."

"You're just so cute!" Amane cooed as she rubbed Oishi's head before smiling. Oishi blushed a deep red before stuttering his way back to the lessons.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

In a different classroom located in the chemistry hallways, two very eerie teenagers stood next to each other discussing stuff.

"Well Watanabe-san, I do believe that having sardines in the drinks are necessary for the essential vitamins."

"Sardines are disgusting Inui-san. I prefer frog juice and cat hair."

"I agree with the frog juice but the cat hair has nothing to do with nutrients or strength boosters."

"Yes I know. But they cat hair is just for freaking them out."

"I see. That is very smart. Most of them will probably scream and run away. The light hearted ones will probably just faint while the more cold hearted ones will just look at it with disgust. Very interesting idea Watanabe-san."

"Oh it's nothing. And you can call me Usio. It's much easier to pronounce and useful if we are ever in a pinch. But I am not calling you Sadaharu. I would feel like I am talking to a scientist."

"But Usio-san, we are pretty much scientists right now."

"Now that's a very interesting way to look at things."

"Hahaha"

"Mwahahaha!"

As the two evil geniuses evilly laughed in the creepiest way possible, the rest of their classmates just avoided looking at them and pretended not to hear anything. The teacher just hoped that they didn't blow up any of the classrooms.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING**

Amu sighed as the bell rang, signaling lunch break. Everyone in the classroom got up and left to head to the cafeteria while Amu slacked behind and jogged to the library instead. She had so many books to catch up on and with the finals coming up, she feels like she not going to have any other time considering the type of day she had today itself.

Amu chuckled as she remembered the fiasco of this morning. After Ami and Tezuka left, the rest of the class went about their own business. Fuji helped Amu clean up the water since he had to wait for Tezuka anyway. While wiping the floor clean, Amu pondered as to why the tensai (15) did something like that. Amu knew that she wanted to see the two of them together so that she could tease Ami about it later on, but that doesn't mean that Fuji knew what she was thinking about. Or could it mean that he wanted them together too? She must have been thinking really hard because before she knew it, a slender finger was poking her in the cheek.

"Smile Suzuki-san. You look much better that way."

"Fuji-san!" Amu leaned away from that menacing finger only to hit her head on the table "Ow…."

"Are you okay?" This time, Fuji's head came in just close enough to make Amu go on a blushing spree. She was mumbling things that could not be heard, but Fuji was sure he heard things like "baka tensai" and "sadist". Fuji chuckled before leaving the poor girl alone. But he couldn't help it. She was just too cute.

Tezuka had come back informing everyone that Ami was fine. He then told Amu that she had to bring the finished cookies over to the nurse's room when they were done with them. It was apparently an order from a very hungry sister.

Back in the present, Amu chuckled some more as she remembered the greedy look on Ami's face when she brought the cookies over. She just gave her the cookies and returned to class.

Amu reached the library and opened the doors to breathe in the smell of books and paper. She smiled and entered.

There was a table in the corner of the library that was reserved to very high level books suited for the higher readers. Amu grabbed a book that she had been meaning to read and sat down to get started. It was a small book (well smaller than the other ones on the shelves) so she finished it rather quickly. She went back to the shelves and scoured for some other harder novels. She found an English novel named Pride and Prejudice. She had seen the movie and was really excited to read the book. The only problem was that it was on one of the higher shelves. Amu stretched her arm out and reached the end of the spine.

"Just a little farther. Ah! Gotcha!" She finally pulled the book out of the shelf. Immediately, all the other books on the shelf came tumbling down, heading right for Amu. Before she could react, two arms circled her waist and pulled her to safety. She crashed into a soft body as all the books drop right where she should have been.

"Are you alright, Suzuki-san?"

"Fuji-san!"

There stood Fuji in all his closed eyed glory. Suzuki mentally wondered where he came from but then realized the position that she was in. After the usual blush and stutter, Amu struggled to get free. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the position, she felt like it was wrong because she wasn't Fuji's girlfriend and he didn't even like her. Oh and she didn't like him that way either (yeah right).

"Fuji-san please let me go!"

"Ah but why? You're just so warm."

"Fuji-san please!"

"Ok."

Fuji abruptly let go of Amu while she was leaning forward. With that momentum, she went headfirst into the bookshelf again. She crashed into it and caused a book to fall and clonk her right on the head.

"Ow!"

Fuji couldn't handle it anymore and outright laughed as he saw the expression on Amu's face. Said girl pouted and huffed cutely.

"That was mean, Fuji-san. Don't laugh."

"Gomen, gomen. It's just that you look so cute." This brought about another fit of snickering. Amu huffed again and picked up her book. She then stormed off angrily.

"Fine be that way sadist."

"Ah wait! I'm sorry Suzuki-san. Come on, please wait up!"

Amu smiled lightly while she thought to herself. She had forgiven him a long time ago, she just wasn't going to tell him about it.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

-Pok-

-Pok-

-Pok-

Kiki watched on as Kaidoh hit the ball time and time again against the wall. She had run into him when she was just taking a walk around the school during her lunch break and decided to stick around and stay. Kaidoh didn't really mind seeing as she barely made a sound except for the few questions here and there. She was nothing like her best friend, Sakura, and he was really thankful for that.

"Kaidoh-kun, do you like animals?"

That was something that he wasn't thankful for.

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, I saw the other day when this really cute raccoon kitty thing was following you around when you were running. Then you went and bought a snack for him. That was really nice of you."

Kaidoh nearly tripped and missed the ball as he heard what she had to say. He blushed furiously; glad that she couldn't see his face.

"I was only giving him a fish so that he would leave. Nothing more."

Kiki watched him intently. Kaidoh went on, pretending that this conversation didn't happen. But her next words really did make him stop and miss the ball that flew 5 centimeters from his face.

"Aren't you tired of keeping on the bad boy mask all the time?"

Kaidoh stared at the girl, trying to figure out what she meant by that. They had a staring contest for about half a minute before she continued.

"That mask will fall eventually. One day, you'll suffocate and your real self is going to come to the surface to breathe."

"Wha-"

"Oi Mamushi! Let's have a practice match!"

Kaidoh turned to Momoshiro that had appeared next to them without realizing. He was going to retort when Kiki stopped him again.

"Just ignore me. I'm just sprouting nonsense. Well then if you'll excuse me. See you later Kaidoh-kun, Momoshiro-kun."

Momoshiro waved as she left but then remembered what she said.

"Wait. Did I miss something Mamushi? Oh I see, I was interrupting your lovely moment wasn't I? Sorry bout that _Kaidoh-kun_?"

Kaidoh just pushed his racket into his face and pushed him aside.

"Let's just go, baka."

Momoshiro blinked a few times before staring at Kaidoh with a confused face.

"What's with him?"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Sakura stretched from side to side before jumping onto the gymnastic mats. She did a few cartwheels and transitioned to a mid-air somersault before launching over the jumping towers (the towers that are made of stacks of boxes that they have to jump over in gym class….if you don't get it then that's fine). She stuck the landing amid a bunch of applause created by her P.E. classmates. Sakura bows a little and sits down next to a bouncing Kikumaru. Honestly, if she put him in a hamster wheel, he could light her whole house for 3 days.

"Sugoi nya, Sakura-chan. Every time I see you perform, it still amazes me!"

"Arigatou Kikumaru-kun."

"Please, just call me Eiji. Kikumaru is way too formal and stuffy."

Sakura cringed a little as she felt glares on her back. _I think your fangirls would like it if I didn't call you Eiji. But this could be the closest I can get to you so screw them!_

This time, both Kikumaru and Sakura were called up to demonstrate the beam to the rest of the class.

"You know Eiji-kun, your relationship with Oishi-kun is really weird. I mean he reminds me of a fish and you remind me of a cat. Naturally, you two should be sworn enemies but you're the best of friends."

"Really nya? I've known Oishi for a long time now and I find him really reliable. I would never think of eating him."

"Obviously baka. That's called cannibalism."

"That's mean! I wonder how Amane-chan or Kiki-chan can handle you. I got it! You're actually a spy that is on an undercover mission. You're actually very mean and bossy and Amane-chan and Kiki-chan are your underlings. But all of you had to take a disguise to hide and you chose a split personality from your real self. That's why they can handle you cause you're mean one minute and hyper the next…..Wait wouldn't that be even harder to handle nya?"

"You….where in the WORLD did you get an explanation like that. Do I honestly look like an undercover spy? Now you're the one being mean Eiji-kun."

"Ah gomen gomen!"

"Kikumaru-kun, Kobayashi-kun. Go run 15 laps around the gym for goofing off."

"H-Hai sensei!"

The two set off on a jog around the gym room.

"This is your entire fault Eiji-kun. If only you hadn't talked about the spy stuff then we wouldn't have to be running now."

"MY FAULT! If you hadn't been talking about my relationship with Oishi then I wouldn't have had to go to the spy stuff at all!"

Sakura sighed and shook her head a little before mumbling "I think you still would've gotten to that point somehow or another."

Both kids looked at each other before bursting out laughing.

"Add another 5 laps kids!"

"Ehhhhhhhhh!"

"10 laps!"

"H-HAIIII!"

"Dude this guy is worse than Tezuka!"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Sakuno sighed as she tried to not look at the clock. In five minutes, she could get out of this stupid English class and finally go to tennis practice.

_I can finally show everyone how much I've grown. Even Ryoma-kun._

Although it seems like Sakuno has changed on the outside, she is still the little girl on the inside. She learned from some of the girls that to make sure no one worries about you, always put up a strong front and never show them how you truly feel. She hated feeling like she needed to be taken care of all the time and decided to show that she can do perfectly fine all by herself.

"Ryuzaki-san."

Of course, for people like Ryoma, she can only hope that he notices how hard she's struggling to keep up her mask around him

"Ryuzaki-san!"

"H-Hai!"

Ryoma smirked as he watched Ryuzaki go deep into thought and forget about her surroundings. Her watched her face change from being bored, to anticipation, to excitement, to confidence, and then to sorrow. It was here where Ryoma frowned wondering what on earth could Ryuzaki be thinking about. He had noticed that Ryuzaki had become more independent and strong but he kind of missed the clumsy and bubbly Ryuzaki from before (not that he would admit it out loud). Of course, now that she had more backbone, he wouldn't have to look after her that much. This brought about an empty feeling that he couldn't really describe. He couldn't let it go until he saw Ryuzaki stand straight up after being called on, with a full on blush stretched across her face.

_Then again, she still hasn't changed all that much_.

**AMAZING! I didn't even know I could write this much! I hope this continues and I really want to thank everyone for reading this! About the book Amu was reading, I had also just seen the movie and am reading the book as we speak. But I have to set it aside for some stupid summer homework and I can't wait until I can read it again.**

**If you story alerted this fic or even favorited it, ****PLEASE REVIEW****! PLEASE! Anything is fine, comments, critics, flames, or even just a simple "Nice job". ANYTHING! I'm just really hungry for some reviews. But thanks for reading anyways!**

**I would like to give special thanks to:**

**AlphaSigma**: Thanks to you because you were the first reviewer. Hope you're still reading this story!

**Lone Panda**: Special thanks to you because you reviewed and are still reviewing. I love the criticism you gave me and I really wanted to thank you! Everything you said means so much to me!

: Thank you for reading. I hope you liked the talents of the girls!

**Yusuki Mazui** and **Yukimura Akira-Chan**: Thank you. I loved the fact that you actually helped correct me. It means a lot!

**fleur d'emeraude**: Thank you! I hope I satisfied some Ryoma-Sakuno moments for now. I had to get everyone else in there too!

**Mamisayv**: Thank you! Hope you enjoyed it!

**shital11**: I followed your advice (amazing by the way) and I tried to get the boys in this chapter as much as I could. I didn't even know that I was doing it until you pointed it out… So thanks! I feel really touched that you read it that many times! Thanks so much!

**Ohayou – Good morning**

**Nii-san – Older Brother**

**Okaa-san – Mom/Mother**

**Ya – Hey/Hi**

**Ohayou gozaimasu – formal version of Ohayou**

**He is Amane's stepdad and Sakura's dad. Amane's mom and Sakura's dad are married because their spouses had died**

**Nee-san – Older Sister**

**Baka - Idiot**

**Ittekimasu – I'm leaving (used when leaving the house)**

**Itterashai – Have a safe trip (said to people who are leaving the house)**

**Betsuni – It's nothing**

**Mizu – Water**

**Matte – Wait**

**Wai - Yay**

**Tensai - Genius**


	10. Chapter 9: Power and Despair

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Prince of Tennis. Only the OC's in this fic and the ideas.**

I am so upset with myself. I almost cried when I realized how long it's been since I last updated. I let you guys down and I'm REEEEEALY sorry. It's just that school started and then I had tennis and then I had all this crap to do. I barely have time to sleep let alone write a chapter but I finally finished it by somehow squeezing it in. I hope you guys like it as much as I had fun writing it. As usual:

_**PLEASE REVIEW!**_

"talking" _thinking_ (Author's notes at the end)

**Chaos With Some Love** – Chapter 9: Amane's Power and Sakuno's Despair

"SEIGAKU!"

"Fight-o! Fight-o! Fight-o!"

"SEIGAKU!"

"Fight-o! Fight-o! Fight-o!"

"…..god those boys are so loud!"

"Sakura!"

"What! I can barely concentrate on my jump roping without their screechy voices banging around in my head" Sakura whined as she kept turning the rope.

The school day had ended as all the tennis players went into the courts and did their usual warm-ups. Everyone ran around the courts for about five minutes before the girls decided to break off and start jump roping. Ryuzaki-sensei had decided to come onto the courts and gather all the players. She waited until everyone was there before beginning.

"Tezuka told me that the regulars will be having matches. Seeing as you might not want to tire yourself, I dismiss practice to everyone else and will be taking my leave now. I'll leave everything up to you Tezuka."

"Hai, Ryuzaki-sensei."

"Good luck everyone."

"Arigatou gozaimasu!"

Tezuka turned around after she left to address the others. "After a five minute break, we will send three matches out at a time, two singles and one doubles match."

The group relaxed and headed out to their bags. As they were walking, Sakuno was wondering about something "Ne, Ami-buchou. Are we still going with the same line-up?"

"Yes Sakuno. We will probably change it for the Mixed Nationals though. Usio's already forming some ideas."

"But it's not perfect. I still need a lot of time and some practice too. But I don't think I'm going to change it around that much."

"Oi Ami! Can we get going already? The boys are ready and my muscles are going to start to constrict if we don't start soon!"

"We're coming Sakura."

As they were walking, Ami glanced over at Sakuno, who was towards the end of the group. She was looking off into the distance and Ami knew what was going through her head. She had seen the determination in Sakuno's eyes when she found out that the line-up would be the same. But it was too soon for Sakuno so Ami pulled aside Usio and Tezuka to discuss it. _I'm sorry Sakuno. I know you're excited to play with that Echizen kid but it's time for you to see that there are other strong players out there. Please forgive me._

Tezuka stepped up when he realized that everyone was here. "Okay, we'll start off with singles three and four and doubles two. From our side, we will have Kawamura at singles four."

Usio spoke out to announce the lineup "We have Amane at singles four."

"EH! Amane-chan! No way!" Kikumaru looked like you had just spilled cold water on him. "That's crazy, putting someone like Amane against Taka-san. She'll be killed!"

"E-Eiji! I'm sure they have a reason for doing that."

Amane stepped forward and held her hand out to Kawamura. "Let's have a good match. And don't worry. I'll be fine." Kawamura shakily took her hand but realized he was just being stupid. They would never attempt a suicide match weeks before the Mixed Nationals.

"Alright. Doubles two. Inui, Kaidoh."

"Let's do this Kaidoh."

"Hai, sempai"

"Amu, it's the two of us."

"Cool. We got this Usio."

As the four shook hands, Tezuka spoke. "As for singles three, I'm going to be playing." Silence range through the crowd. No one knew how to respond. One lone girl started to shake a little bit.

"Sakuno. You're up."

"H-hai U-Usio-sempai. Let's have a good match Tezuka-buchou"

Tezuka gave a quick nod and swiftly shook Sakuno's hand before striding to the courts.

"Hurry up you guys. Singles four will be on block A, doubles two takes block B, and singles three will take block C. Dismissed."

Everyone who would be playing grabbed their stuff and walked to their assigned blocks. They gave each other a silent good-luck before getting in position. Everyone else stood by block A.

"So where should we go first?" Kikumaru asked, putting his hands behind his head and bouncing on the heels of his feet. Ami started heading towards block B.

"Well I'm going to watch Amu and Usio's match. Just go where you want to."

"I'm going to go with Suzuki-san."

"I'll go with you Fuji-sempai."

"Alright Echizen."

As those three headed out, Sakura looked around at the remaining people. "Well, I guess we're off to Amane-chi's match."

As they walked, Taki's eyes wandered to block C. _I hope you're alright Sakuno. Just try your best okay._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Best of one set match. Inui to serve." Inui looked up, noting the position of both players. Amu is receiving first and seems to be standing a bit farther than usual. She knows when she's in a tough match and knows better than to underestimate anyone like Inui or Kaidoh. She wasn't taking any chances.

Inui did some quick mental calculations and served a seemingly normal serve, but Usio saw right through it and shouted to Amu.

"Amu, come up! It's a slice serve and it's going to bounce back!"

At that, Amu bolted towards the ball, scooping under it to have it barely go over the net. Kaidoh did a quick poach and volleyed the ball behind Amu and deep towards the baseline, seeing as though there was no one to cover that area. All of a sudden, Amu switched sides and Usio was at the baseline. It looked like Usio was receiving the serve and Ami was at the net. Usio hit the ball towards Kaidoh's backhand, knowing he would try to poach again and try to hit it. She wasn't disappointed. But it was weak and shallow so Amu took this opportunity to volley the ball towards the alley on the other side of Kaidoh.

Ryoma blinked.

"Wow. Suzuki-chan and Watanabe-san have really nice teamwork. Watanabe-san hit the ball towards Kaidoh because she knew he would hit a bad volley from that position, giving Suzuki-chan a change to attack." Fuji commented.

"Yeah those two know each other really well. Usio knows about Amu a little too well though." Ami said.

Inui wasn't going to let them get the point so soon. He lobbed the ball high over Amu's head and towards the corner. Amu switched over once more and let Usio get the ball. She barely got it and tried to hit it towards the area between Kaidoh and Inui but as soon as she thought about it, Inui caught the ball in the air and returned it in the other corner, ending the first point.

"15 – love"

All four players gave out a small sigh.

_This is going to be a long match._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"But, I feel bad about Amane-chan. Having to go against Taka-san. Ne, Oishi?" Kikumaru said as they walked to the court.

"Sou dane (1). Are you really sure about this Kobayashi-san?"

"Sakura."

"Huh?'

"Call me Sakura. Kobayashi-san is too formal. And don't worry about my sis (2). She'll be fine. She's a lot tougher than she looks."

"Sempai-tachi please hurry. Amane-sempai's match is about to begin." Kiki called from a few feet in front of them.

"Kiki-chan's right. Let's go."

Everyone scrambles to the court just to see Amane start her serve. It may seem like a normal serve but Sakura knew better. Kawamura hit the ball feeling the little extra force put on it. Thinking nothing of it, he returned the ball easily. Amane returned the ball just as easily. Again, Kawamura felt a bit more power than the ball before. Confused, he hit the ball back over the net.

_Oh, I see what she's doing. She's adding her power to it little by little so that she doesn't wear herself out and get tired later on in the match._

Amane started to get a little frustrated that Kawamura was not playing seriously so she hit the ball harder. Kawamura immediately felt the weight and knew that this girl was strong.

"Ne Kawamura-san. Please play seriously or else it's not fun at all." With this, Amane visibly put more force on the ball and gave a little grunt from the exertion. Seeing as how Kawamura was not paying full attention, the ball didn't hit the gut (3) of the racket and ended up going into the net.

"Usso (4)! I can't believe Amane-chan is that strong! Why is she that strong?"

"Well Eiji-kun, it's because Amane-chi knows karate." Sakura said.

"Karate"

"Yes Oishi-sempai. She's been learning karate ever since she was a little girl. She's a black belt and is now good enough that she can teach at one of the local karate schools." Kiki said, looking awed as she watched Amane serve again.

Taki spoke up as well. "Not only that, she knows Judo, Tai-kwon-do, Martial Arts and a little bit of boxing. She is, what you would call, the powerhouse of our team."

Kikumaru blew a low whistle, "That's…..well that's amazing!"

"Game Kobayashi. 1 game to love. Switch sides."

"You really are amazing Amane-san. But don't think I'm going to let you win. I'm just going to start getting serious so get ready."

"I would want it any other way Kawamura-san."

Kawamura threw the ball up in the air. The racket came down fast and hard. Oishi's eyes widened slightly. "Burning Serve?! Taka-san must really be serious." Amane ran for the serve and barely made it over the net before Kawamura dashed towards the net and volleyed the ball to the other side. Amane looked towards the ball as if scolding it for going the other way.

"You planned that didn't you?"

"And there's more where that came from."

"Bring it on."

As they started another rally, Kikumaru turned towards Sakura. "Doesn't Amane-chan seem more enthusiastic and forceful than she usually is?"

"Yeah. She tends to get like that on the courts. Especially when she thinks the opponent is really strong or when she is starting to get pressured."

"Game Kawamura, 1 game to all"

"Go Taka-san! YOU CAN DO THIS!"

"COME ON AMANE! DON'T LET THIS BOY BEAT YOU!"

"DON'T YOU DARE LOSE TO A GIRL TAKA-SAN!"

"YOU ARE BETTER THAN HIM AMANE!"

Amane's eyes started to twitch dangerously. Kawamura backed up a little, afraid of what was going to happen.

"SHUT UP SAKURA, KIKUMARU! WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A MATCH!"

Kikumaru and Sakura started to cling to each other and shake violently. "Y-yes m'am. I-it won't h-happen again." Oishi and Kiki just sighed while Taki went over and hit them upside their heads.

"Sorry about that Kawamura-san. Let's go back to the match."

"H-hai…."

Amane took the ball and started her serve again. Their rallies kept going back and forth, neither side relenting on their grasp.

"Game Kobayashi. 5 games to 4. Switch courts."

Amane grabbed her water bottle and took a nice long sip. She got her towel and wiped her face and neck before heading out. Kawamura stepped out as well.

_I can't afford to lose this game. I'm going to have to use Hadoukyuu_

As Kawamura served, he lessened his power on the ball just a tad to be able to control it and hit it in the far corner of the service box. This caught Amane off guard a bit as she was expecting the Burning Serve. Nonetheless she still got the ball and returned it.

_What is Kawamura-san thinking? Giving me a serve like that. He must have a plan. _Just as she thought that, she looked up surprised to see Kawamura in the familiar one-handed Hadoukyuu pose.

Oishi gripped the fence tightly between his fingers. "Don't do it Taka-san! You're just going to put more strain on your arm!"

Everyone else just watched in horror as the move went on as planned. Amane though smile lightly. As soon as the ball hit the racket, Amane was off and running.

"**HADOUKYUU!"**

The ball went flying and headed straight for Amane. Sakura's eyes widened as she realized what Amane was planning. "Wait Amane! You don't even know if it'll work for the Hadoukyuu."

"She's right Amane-sempai!" Kiki yelled, but Taki smiled and shushed the other two.

"But Taki-sempai-"

"It's okay Kiki. Amane knows what she's doing."

Kiki quieted down but she knew that even Taki was worried. With this, she turned back to the match.

The ball started to descend to the ground just a bit. Just inches before it hit the ground, Amane scooped up the ball and sent it flying over the net. It looked as though it would hit the service line so Kawamura stayed on the baseline. All of a sudden, the ball suddenly curved to a great extent and dropped down about 3 inches from the net.

Kikumaru's mouth gaped as he tried to form words. "W-w-what….was that?! It looked like Echizen's Drive B but to a much lower extent!"

A voice came from the shadows behind them. "No, Kikumaru-sempai. Amane-sempai's move is very different from Ryoma-kun's Drive B."

The group turned around to see Sakuno with her hands behind her back holding onto her racket. She had a sober look on her face that no one missed.

"When did you get here Sakuno?"

"Around 3 games to all, Kiki-sempai."

"Sakuno how did it-"

"It was alright Taki-sempai."

A brief silence followed before Oishi questioned what Sakuno said before. "But Sakuno-san, what do you mean it's not like Echizen's Drive B?"

Taki stopped Sakuno from replying, "I'll answer this. You see, from learning all those sports, Amane's strength is higher than normal for a girl. Because of this, she is able to take a ball that is just about to touch the ground and add enough spin so that it would create a huge curve just by the net."

"That's why it's different from Ryoma-kun's Drive B because he catches the ball on the fall not just above the ground like Amane-sempai. His ball doesn't have nearly enough spin to drop sharply like hers."

"That's why this move is called-"

"Uppercut"

Kawamura blinked just to make sure he heard right. "Yes Kawamura-san, you heard right. I said Uppercut. I was practicing karate one day with my coach when I hit a uppercut to a board he was holding. The board dropped so suddenly that I wondered if I could make a move out of it."

"That's really cool Amane-san. But it's not going to be enough now that I know how it goes."

"We'll just see about that."

Kawamura served once more to the corner and Amane hit it back. Kawamura hit a short ball and Amane prepared to hit the Uppercut. Seeing this, Kawamura ran to the net expecting the ball to just drop right by the net. All of a sudden, the ball went over his head and dropped right behind him. Shocked, Kawamura looked up to see Amane grinning broadly.

"How did you-"

"I can control the spin to make it right by the net or right behind you." And with that, Amane won the next two points using Uppercut as well.

"Game, Set, Match, Kobayashi, 6-4."

Sakura ran onto the courts to hug Amane tightly around the neck. "Great match Amane-chi"

"Yeah. Great job Amane."

"Arigatou Sakura, Taki"

"Sakura-sempai, you might want to let Amane-sempai go. She's turning blue."

"AH! SORRY AMANE-CHI!" Amane took a deep breath when Sakura let her go, returning her face to the normal color.

"It's fine Sakura. Arigatou-Kiki-chan."

"Amane-san, great job. You too Taka-san." Amane and Kawamura looked over to see Oishi, Kikumaru and Sakuno coming towards the four of them. "Yeah yeah! Oishi is right! It was fantastic-nya!" Kikumaru latched onto Kawamura. "Guess this means you are going to have to get a lot stronger Taka-san."

"Eiji! That's rude!"

"No, Oishi. It's alright. It's true after all. But I'm glad that Amane-san is just as strong as I am. That way, I can't rest and I have to keep getting stronger."

"Atta boy Taka-san! That's a great way to look at thing. I'm so proud of you!" Kikumaru cried, hugging Kawamura some more.

"A-ah…"

Sakuno spoke up right as Sakura was going to say something. "We should probably head to Amu-sempai and Usio-sempai's match. Ami-buchou would not like it if we don't come as soon as we can."

"You're right Sakuno. Let's go everyone."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Game Inui-Kaidoh pair, 3-all"

"No way!" Kikumaru screamed. "How are they only this far into the game?"

Ami, Fuji, Ryoma and Tezuka turned around as everyone joined together at the fence.

"How'd it go Taka-san?"

"I lost 4-6. But it was a good match."

"Saa, you lost? Now that's quite unexpected."

"Apparently she knows karate, ju-do, tai-kwon-do, martial arts and a bit of boxing. Black belt in all of them."

Fuji's smile widened dangerously, "Now that's very unexpected. But well done anyway."

"Oi. You may want to watch this match right now. It's starting to get really interesting."

Kaidoh served as Usio returned the ball towards Inui, watching his movements at the net really carefully. All of a sudden, Usio cried out to Amu

"Amu, switch! I'll get it!"

Amu slid over to the other side of the court while the ball Inui hit went right where Amu was standing not two seconds ago. In place of Amu, Usio was preparing to use a backhand and hit it between the space that Kaidoh and Inui left behind. Both players obviously looked shocked. Usio, Amu, and Ami smirked while the other girls smiled knowingly.

Kikumaru's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "What did Usio-chan just do?"

"Well, it's hard to explain." Ami started to say, leaning on her left foot. "Usio was born with this abnormal defect in her eyes. It wasn't anything serious so the doctors paid no attention to it. This defect allows her to see minute details in about everything she sees. Even when she goes to the doctors to get her eyes checked up on, she can read even the smallest letters on the board. In this case, Usio can see the way Inui's arm muscles contracted and relaxed allowing her to figure out which way the ball is going and how deep it is. That's why surprise attacks never work on her."

Everyone was speechless as they kept watching the mysterious pairs.

"Game Suzuki-Watanabe pair, 4-3"

The two pairs switched sides and got ready for Usio's serve. Inui returned the ball right towards Amu. But she sidestepped quickly and hit it right towards Kaidoh who volleyed the ball right by Usio's feet. Usio barely scooped the ball and sent it into a low lob which was easily smashed by Kaidoh, ending the point. Ami sighed at that last point before leaning into the fence.

"Hey Amu, focus on the game will ya. This should be nothing for you." Everyone looked at Ami strangely, wondering what she was talking about.

"I know Ami, I know. It's just that…"

"She's right you know. It's time that you play seriously." Usio also said.

"…I know Usio." Amu said after a short pause.

Kawamura looked over at Ami, confusion written all over his face. "What does she mean by play seriously Ami-san?"

Ami looked towards Amu with a burdened look. "Amu tends to not take anything seriously. She's not a genius. Heck she's anything but that. If anything, I'm the genius between the two of us." She sighed softly before continuing "But Amu, she works the hardest. She's always practicing and trying to be the best. But because of our mother, she never tries to be the best anymore and she never works hard anymore. She's content with just getting by."

Fuji gazed at Amu with a new understanding. Something always bothered him whenever he looked at her. She would seem happy on the outside but he could read her eyes as plain as day and he would see so much sadness and desperation that he would shiver to the core. He would always get mad thinking that someone as sweet and innocent as Amu carries a burden so hard that it reflects in her eyes. He feels compelled to protect her innocence and is drawn by her natural charm. Of course, teasing her is a whole different matter.

"What did you mother do to her, if I may ask."

Anger and pain flashed through Ami's eyes before disappearing. "You guys should know that Ami and I were love children"

"What!" Kikumaru and Sakura gaped openly while gasps ran throughout the group. Amu spun around violently towards Ami.

"Ami! What are you doing?!"

"No Amu. They need to know." Amu looked at Ami, seeming as though she was going to cry. She turned around and hissed with anger. "Fine. Do whatever you want." Amu returned to the bench with Usio, while Inui and Kaidoh listened in on the conversation.

"Our mother and father met at a night club. They didn't fall in love at first sight or anything like that but they did start seeing each other afterwards. A week later, our mom found out she was pregnant and told our dad. They were upset about it because they were going to break up the next day. But because of us, our dad stayed with our mom until we were born. Afterwards, our dad took me and our mom took Amu."

"But that means you guys were separated." Amane looked pained as she imaged a life without Sakura. "That's awful!"

"We ended up seeing each other when we were six. Before we were born though, our mom was a heavy drinker. She stopped when she was pregnant with us but started again when she had to take care of Amu."

Kikumaru grimaced a bit before asking "She never... abused Amu-chan did she?"

Ami shook her head quickly "No nothing like that. But she did ignore her. When Amu entered school, she tried so hard to be top of the class and when she tried to tell our mom, she ignored her and never even congratulated her. Amu was crushed and felt defeated so she just stopped trying. It was towards the end of first grade when our mother committed suicide, leaving Amu in the custody of our father. But he died when we were in fifth grade because of a fire accident. We were at school and he was at work when his work building got caught on fire from an explosion in the kitchen on the first floor. Our dad was on the top floor and there was no chance of him surviving."

Taki looked sympathetically towards the two twins "That's just devastating"

"Wait," Kiki interrupted "I thought you had an older brother? Touya-san, if I'm not mistaken"

"Oh yeah. A few years before we were born, my dad had adopted our older brother. But he was sent to a boarding school and barely came home. He was just ending his bachelor's degree when our dad died. He should be 28 right now."

Kikumaru looked up "Hey! My sister, Karin, is that age! And apparently she's recently been going out with a guy with that name too!" Ami looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Are you stupid or something? The guy your sister is going out with is our brother baka!" Kikumaru's eyes widened as everyone else sighed.

"Hey Ami! It might be best if you kept quiet so we could get back to our match now." Ami turned around to see Amu throwing daggers at her (imaginary of course. This rating for this fic is not high enough for real daggers) . Ami shivered involuntarily and cowered behind Taki "Oh she is really mad….My god! She can be so scary when she wants to be!"

Taki laughed as she looked behind her at Ami, "She's not that scary." Ami looked incredulously up at her.

"Not that scary! She's throwing imaginary daggers at me with her eyes!" Amane looked over at Amu before nervously turning back to Ami.

"She might throw real daggers if you don't pay attention right now." Ami gulped before turning to Amu with a pleading expression on her face.

"Oh Amu please don't kill me! I still haven't had that strawberry-vanilla-chocolate ice cream combo we have at home!" Everyone sweat dropped as Amu rubbed her temples.

"Sorry about that Inui-san, Kaidoh-kun. Let's get back to the match. Sorry Usio."

"It's okay. I get it Amu."

"Watanabe-sempai, you knew all along?" Kaidoh asked.

"Of course. I've known the twins since second grade."

"I see. That would explain why you guys are always together." said Inui.

"Let's just get back to the match."

"So starting from Watanabe's serve. 4-3. Love-15." Usio served once again and kept directing Amu which ways to go based on the muscle movement while Inui and Kaidoh tried to guard themselves against it.

"Game Suzuki-Watanabe pair, 5-3."

"Come on Amu-chan, Usio-chan!"

"You can do it Kaidoh, Inui!"

"Game Inui-Kaidoh pair, 4-5"

"That's the way to go you two!"

"You guys still have the lead! You got this!"

"Game Inui-Kaidoh par, 5-all."

"Atta boys! This is the time to bring it all around.

"What's wrong you two? Get the pace right back to your side!"

"Game Suzuki-Watanabe pari, 6-5."

"That's the way to go! One more!"

"You two can still bring it around!"

All four players switched sides and caught their breath while their teammates cheered them on. Ami looked especially troubled as she assessed the situation.

_This is really bad. I know we are all out of breath but Kaidoh-kun's Snake and Boomerang Snake are taking out a lot more of our energy. We just can't keep doing this. The longer the match, the bigger advantage they have. I guess I'm going to have to get serious after all._

"Oi Usio. Back me up will ya." Usio looked up in surprise.

"You don't mean you're going to use that are you?"

"What else would I mean" Amu looked at Usio in confusion as she shook her head side to side.

"No, I'm just glad that you're actually going to get serious right now." Usio smiled lightly before going to start her serve. Amu watched with puzzlement before smiling as well and getting in place.

Kaidoh's eyes widened slightly before looking at his partner, "Inui-sempai, that's the-"

"Yes Kaidoh. It's the Australian Formation." Inui wasn't wrong as he watched Amu go in front of Usio right by the net and crouch really low. "I don't know why they're doing this though. We know all of the weaknesses because of practice with Kikumaru and Oishi. What are they thinking?"

As Usio served, Inui waited until he saw Amu move to the left and Usio to the right (in his perspective). He waited for the perfect chance before hitting the ball to the far back left corner, the one blind spot of the formation.

A second passed by while Kaidoh's and Inui's eyes widened when they saw Amu in the back left corner while Usio was up at the net. What was really surprising was that Amu's racket was so far down that it touched the ground. It looked almost like Oishi's Moon Volley.

Amu then hit a super high lob that went so high up that it disappeared for a while. She ended with her racket sticking straight up in the air and her eyes closed. Inui and Kaidoh looked up frantically trying to search for the ball.

Outside of the court, Ryoma's eyes widened while Kikumaru paled. Oishi looked at them worriedly, "What's wrong Echizen, Eiji?"

Kikumaru's mouth flopped open but now words came out so Ryoma answered for both of them "Just look at what's about to happen and you'll know why" Meanwhile, the girls shared a meaningful look within their group.

Usio smiled at the sky while Amu still had her arm raised and eyes closed as she said out loud "Haru, Sakura no Mai (5)."

All of a sudden, dozens of balls fell from the sky as though it was sakura petals coming down from the tree. Kaidoh and Inui gazed on in bewilderment when the last of the balls disappeared while the real one glided across the court right in between both boys. Silence rained throughout the courts as they thought about what they just saw while Fuji's eyes opened to reveal his shocked and mesmerized blue orbs.

"What was that, Suzuki-san?"

"That Fuji was one of Amu's four special moves, Sakura no Mai."

Oishi held a thinking pose "Wait. You said four special moves. Does that mean there's three more? And what connection do they have to one another?"

Amane smiled lightly "You are right Oishi-san. Amu's four moves connect in the way she names them and the nature of the moves."

Kikumaru moved his head to the side in confusion "Names? Nature of the moves? What does that have to do with anything?"

Taki chuckled at Kikumaru's confused expression before answering him "If you noticed, Amu said that her move 'Haru, Sakura no Mai'. The first part of the name explains the four moves part. She has a move for each season of the year. This one happens to be Spring."

"Oh! Well that explains the names part but I still don't get the nature of the moves."

"It's just that whatever the season happens to be, the move has something to do with that season. In this case, we know that the Sakura petals bloom during the Spring so she made it seem like it was raining Sakura petals on the court. Simple and beautiful but deadly. Just like Amu herself."

Everyone smiled at the comparison but Fuji's smile seemed to be keeping somewhat of a secret. He closed his eyes once more before muttering something so softly that almost no one could hear it, "That wasn't what I was asking about but I guess it will have to do." Unfortunately for Fuji, Ami heard everything he said and stared at him weirdly before facing forward again.

_Amu, he's figuring out all of your tricks one by one and it'll just be a matter of time before he figures out the puzzle. Please be careful so that you don't get hurt._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Game, Set, Match, Suzuki-Watanabe pair 7-5"

"YATTA (6)!" Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs and dashed straight for Amu and Usio, almost tackling them over if Kiki hadn't restrained her. Ecstatic as Sakura was, she calmed herself down so not to injure the two players. Everyone gathered around the two doubles teams to congratulate them on their hard work.

"That was an excellent match you two. You should be so proud!" Amane congratulated them when they came out of the courts, giving the both of the girls a huge hug.

"Amane's right. I really enjoyed watching it." Taki stepped up with the rest of the girls right behind her.

"Thank you Amane, Taki." Amu smiled at the both of them warmly, acting like her old self again. She felt troubled when she started playing her tennis again, like she couldn't control herself. She was just glad that at least Usio was there to help calm her down.

"GREATO! NICE MATCH!" The girls looked over to see Kawamura with a racket in his hands, yelling at the top of his lungs while Kikumaru lunged at Kaidoh.

"Nya! He's so right! Great job Kaidoh, Inui!"

"A-Arigatou gozaimasu Kawamura-sempai, Kikumaru-sempai" Kaidoh managed to choke out between breaths. He felt a bit of satisfaction when Kikumaru jumped off of him and onto Inui. But then he was disgusted when Inui fed off Kikumaru with a pitcher of Inui juice. Fuji smiled at him and Inui while Tezuka nodded his approval.

Fuji broke away from the guys to go speak to the girls "You too. Very nice job. I thoroughly enjoyed it."

When Amu felt his eyes on her, she looked up to see his clear blue eyes staring right back at hers. For Amu, time froze instantly as she felt his searching eyes roaming all over her body, peeling away at every layer of protection she put over herself. As she stood before him, she felt as if she was without all of her clothes, nothing stopping Fuji from seeing every secret that she hid. Terrified beyond belief, Amu quickly looked down as her heart started beating faster and faster. Hoping that he didn't notice anything, she strained a smile back at Fuji, "T-Thank you F-Fuji-san."

Fuji obviously saw something mysterious hidden in her eyes. Was that fear? Either which way, he knew something was wrong. Whenever he got too close, she would make some excuse to get away and when he finally thought he was close enough to be trusted, she would sprint ahead, leaving him in the dust. And now she wouldn't even look him in the eyes.

Usio felt Amu tense up behind her and witnessed the exchange between her and Fuji. She saw the fear in her eyes and the questions and hurt in his eyes. But as soon as it was there, it was gone. Of course, she knew she didn't imagine it and felt concern flood through her body for her best friend. As she looked over at the other twin, Usio saw concern, dread, and pain running across Ami's face. But, Usio knew that she couldn't interfere. It was something that they had to deal with themselves or they just couldn't grow up. She could only protect them from everything else that wants to hurt them. Usio sighed and smiled softly, looking protectively over Ami and Amu.

_What troublesome twins they are_

**I am the worst. If you guys want to come to my house and hurt me for not updating soon, by all means go ahead. I even want you to. I feel SO bad for not updating. But this time I promise that I will get the next chapter up in less than half the time. I even have most of the idea down. I just have to write it out and add the dialogue.**

**I really enjoyed this chapter because I felt I brought some depth into Amu and Usio with a little on Ami. I hope that this time the characters don't seem like carbon copies of the boys (which in the beginning it was I admit it) but I really hope that they have their own personality now. **

**I also really hope that Amu doesn't seem like a Mary Sue because I just wanted to show how much pain she's been through and that is why she has so many secrets. Her true personality is so much more than that. Fuji's going to have a tough time bringing that out.**

**As usual, REVIEW! PLEASE! Comments, criticism, flames, "nice job"s, anything is fine just give me something to work off of. The more you review, the greater my motivation is to update faster. It's all for you benefit so just hit the review button please.**

**Sou dane – Yeah, that's right (a round translation)**

**Just to clear some stuff up, Sakura and Amane are actually cousins (Their fathers are brothers). But because of certain complications, Amane and her mom live with Sakura and her dad. They keep the Kobayashi name so Sakura seems that it's appropriate to call Amane her "sister". This doesn't mean that they actually are sisters.**

**Gut of the racket – Middle of the racket. This is where the ball should be hit to have a nice smooth shot with spin on it.**

**Usso – No way**

**Haru, Sakura no Mai – Spring, Sakura's Dance**

**Yatta – Yay/Yes**


	11. Chapter 10: Countering a Plan

**Disclaimer: I'm not Japanese, I'm not a male so I most definitely do not own Prince of Tennis.**

Well here is chapter 10! This chapter is all about Sakura and Kiki's match against the Golden Pair. I totally forgot about the Ichinen trio so I added them in here really quickly. And they help me to explain what the details of the match are like so it's easier for me. I feel like I'm kinda getting better at these matches and my writing in general.

**AN**: The only people on the tennis courts are the tennis regulars and the Ichinen trio. Everyone else went home because there wasn't a practice and Ryuuzaki-sensei dismissed them all.

I really liked all the reviews I got so I decided to reply back even though I didn't need to.

**xXRandomnessPrevailsXx: **Awwwwwww! Thanks SO much for the review! I love how you were so enthusiastic about it. It made me feel really happy so once again thanks! Don't worry, I get those cheesebag moments a lot too. I'm sorry that I couldn't add some RyoSaku this chapter but I promise that there is going to be a MAJOR moment with the two of them in the next chapter so please stay patient!

**chichi11101:** Thanks for reviewing. Fuji has a lot of tricks up his sleeves and it's gonna be fun to write about them.

**Lone Panda: **Yeah sorry about that. I'll try to update the next chapter as soon as possible but I have been really busy lately with the semester ending and everything. The twins are my favorite and they are the two girls who are the ones I love writing about because their personalities (the hidden ones too) are really nice so it's fun to see how they react to stuff. Thanks for reviewing and I'm sorry that you got grounded.

**Crimson05Princess: **Goody for you reviewing too! Even though it was just one word, it was also one review so thank you!

**CelticGirl7: **I hope you liked the story and I hope you stay with me to the end. Thanks so much. Peace out! P.S. there is going to be a RyoSaku moment next chapter so wait for that!

**Sakura Ichigo Morihiko: **The thing is that Amu is keeping a lot of secrets to herself and building like this barrier around her. But Fuji is so smart (he is a genius after all) that he can figure out all this stuff really easily and that intrigues him. That is why he is so attracted to her. Ami is trying to warm Amu about what Fuji is doing. Fuji was really just asking why Amu was acting so different from her usual self. This is what really gets him interested in the first place. Sorry if it was confusing in any way but I'm glad you asked. I hope I cleared up any misunderstandings. 5000000 virtual cookies for you for reviewing! Thanks so much!

Now without further ado…..Chapter 10 awaits!

_**PLEASE REVIEW!**_

"talking" _thinking_

**Chaos With Some Love** – Chapter 10: Countering a Plan

"Alright everyone. Gather around." Tezuka's voice boomed throughout the courts as all the regulars headed towards him. "We are going to go to the next matches." When he noticed he had everyone's attention, he motioned for Inui to continue.

"On court 1, we'll have Fuji" Inui spoke as Fuji stepped forward.

"We have Taki on our side." Taki stepped up to Fuji and shook his hand. "Let's have a good match." The two players then headed out to warm up.

"Court 2 has Kikumaru and Oishi vs. Kiki-san and Sakura-san."

"All right!" Kikumaru pumped his fist into the air. "Finally it's my turn. Let's do this Oishi. You're going down Kiki-chan, Sakura-chan."

Sakura scoffed at him, "In your dreams cat-boy! You'll never beat us, right Kiki-chan?" Kiki just sighed before pushing her best friend towards the courts.

"Yes sempai, we will. But we have to get to the courts first."

"Hey! Wait for us!" Kikumaru grabbed Oishi's arm and dragged him after the girls. Tezuka looked at the four of them before nodding at Inui.

"On court 3, Echizen," Ryoma looked up to see Ami standing before him.

"Let's have a good match Echizen." Ryoma shook her hand before pulling his cap down a bit. When he looked at her, he saw that Ami's stare had changed slightly. It was usually filled with a sparkle that looked almost homely and inviting. But now, it became hard and cold like she knew it was time to stop fooling around and get down to business. "Yes. Let's Suzuki-sempai."

Amu approached Ami before asking worriedly, "Are you going to be okay, Ami, with that ankle?"

"You are hurt? How?" Usio looked at Ami with a concerned look in her eyes.

"I got it today during cooking class. But I'll be fine Amu. Don't worry." Ami walked towards court 3 with Ryoma. Amu looked at her quietly before shaking her head and going after her.

"When you say that, I really start to worry the most."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Amane and Kaidoh were at the fence of the doubles match. Amane smiled when she saw Sakura and Kikumaru yelling at each other with Oishi trying to calm them down. But as soon as the match started, she saw the same fire run through each of their eyes.

"Wow, they sure are serious." All of a sudden, the Ichinen trio popped up out of nowhere. Kaidoh and Amane blinked at their sudden appearance.

"Where have you guys been?" Kaidoh hissed out. "Are you always cheering on the matches we have?"

"We were here but we felt like we weren't supposed to talk."The three boys looked around sheepishly.

"Oh you guys should have said something," Amane replied, feeling mortified that she didn't include others when watching the matches.

"It's okay Amane-sempai. but we should probably watch the match instead. It looks like they are starting." Horio replied quickly at seeing Amane's face so downcast. Kato and Kachirou nodded fervently right behind him.

Back on the court, Kiki served the ball towards Oishi and got ready for an easy rally. She was right as the ball was hit just between them. Sakura, getting impatient, cut across the court and intercepted the ball. Kiki sprinted to the other side of the court to cover the empty part.

As soon as the ball crossed the net, it was Kikumaru who intercepted the ball. Sakura ran and lunged for the ball, sending it to the other side of Kikumaru. The boy just smiled and reached his arm backwards to volley and end the point.

Kikumaru's face broke into a devilish grin. "You're not going to win that easily Sa-ku-ra-chan!" Kikumaru wiggled his finger on each syllable right in Sakura's face. She glared menacingly at his finger before a low growl crawled up her throat. Kikumaru sensed the coming danger and barely managed to get his finger away from Sakura before she reached out and tried to bite it.

"You almost bit me!" Kikumaru spluttered out, as his eyes grew wider and wider.

"You taunted me with that stupid wiggling finger of yours." Sakura growled out before the two clashed at each other with words flying in between. Kiki and Oishi met by the net, watching their partners claw each other out.

"It's a love-hate relationship between these two, isn't it sempai?" Kiki mused on. She had never seen the most opposite of people be so similar. They hated each other's guts yet they had so much in common. She got that same kind of feeling between Kaidoh and Momoshiro.

"Either which way, it still isn't good to fight." Oishi raised his voice to help carry it towards the others. "Eiji, Sakura-san, please stop fighting. If you don't, we'll never get through the match." Kikumaru and Sakura's heads whipped towards Oishi while pointing at the other.

"But he/she started it!"

"It's your fault!"

"No, it's your fault!"

"Stop copying me!"

Kiki laughed out loud while Oishi fought the urge to face palm. "Well what do you know! Sempai-tachi are synchronized!"

"No we're not!" Sakura huffed. "Come on Kiki-chan, stop it!"

Sakura's chest heaved from labored breathing as she tried to calm her racing heart. She had no idea why he was affecting her so much. They had classes together before and they had talked and everything but they were just on opposites sides of the classroom. Their lives never crossed but sometimes Sakura wished they did.

After they first got aquainted at Sakuno's house, they started talking a lot more, sometimes even going to get some ice cream after school. During their little outings, she had fun just hanging out with him and didn't mind that he was so hyperactive. It was just one of his charms. Usually, if she had free time, she would go out by herself or with Kiki or Amane. She never had many friends that she could confide in other than those two and was happy to know that she could always go to Kikumaru whenever she bored.

Sakura shook her head violently back and forth, trying to clear her wandering thoughts. She heads back to her position and motions for Kiki and the others to do the same.

As another rally continues, Kiki observes the happening of the tennis court, trying to figure out a plan. She knew that Kikumaru usually stays at the net to accentuate his acrobatic skills and leaves the deep shots for Oishi. Not only that, their combinations are near flawless seeing as how they've been playing together for 5 years.

Kiki sighed, knowing this was going to be a little hard, trying to figure out how to defend against their attacks and try to counterattack at the same time. Not saying that she and Sakura were amateurs, but these kinds of opponents just don't fit her style well.

As she went over her options, she realized that even though Kikumaru solved his stamina problem, there is still a bit of an option to mess with him there. Oishi doesn't have a lot of power either, seeing as he only stays at the baseline where the shots become less powerful. She would have to make sure that a power ball was headed towards him more than his partner.

Kiki smiled as the gear sin her head just started turning as she figured out a plan. No sooner had she thought that, the ball went right by Kikumaru's feet. He tried but failed to catch the ball, ending the game.

"Game Kobayashi-Takahashi, 1-love. Switch sides."

The Ichinen trio blinked when they saw Sakura and Kiki pass by, "Amane-sempai, why is Kiki-sempai in such a nice mood?"

When Amane looked over at the court, she saw sparkles radiating off of Kiki, almost rivaling what Taki looked like normally. Amane felt her mouth twitch upwards as she watched the two get ready for Kikumaru's serve.

"Oh my. I guess she already has a plan. That was really fast though, even for her."

"A plan? What plan?"

"Well you see, Kiki is actually the brains of the two, despite being the younger one," Amane explained to the others. As soon as she saw their shocked faces, she hurried on, "I'm not saying Sakura-chan isn't smart it's just that Kiki is the one that makes all the counterattacks for the match."

"How interesting," Inui murmured as he appeared behind the freshman, glasses flashing.

"Ahhh!" The three boys screamed and turned around, almost falling on the ground. Kaidoh stared at Inui with wide linking eyes while Amane looked at him calmly. Being around Sakura really paid off. "Inui-sempai! Where in the world did you come from?"

"I was right behind all of you the entire time. I can't just pop out of thin air. Highly impossible." Inui continued writing, even noting their reactions to his appearance.

The Ichinen trio shivered as they saw Inui take a sip of his Inui juice. _You liar, Inui-sempai. If you can make a drink like that, nothing is impossible for you._

"No way!" All six people turned to see Kikumaru and Oishi gaping at Sakura. The ball was rolling in between Oishi's feet. Amane's smile widened when she realized what Sakura had done.

"Love–15"

The freshman looked confused as to what just happened and looked to Amane for an explanation, but she calmly shook her head, indicating that they should just watch if they wanted to see it again.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Kikumaru and Oishi were whispering to themselves about what they just saw. It seemed impossible that someone could do something like that, but they decided to just let it go and focus more on the game. After they refocused, they managed to somehow win the game. Sakura didn't do whatever it was for the rest of the game so they both relaxed and wondered if it was just a fluke.

Sakura smirked at the boys before serving the ball. She decided to join Kiki at the net and dashed forward. Seeing this, Oishi returned with a Moon Volley.

"There it is! Oishi-sempai's Moon Volley!" Horio smiled when he saw Oishi's favorite move but his smile dropped quickly when he saw what the opponents were doing.

Sakura, who was halfway to the net, did three backflips, putting more weight on her left hand so that her right hand wouldn't get crushed with the racket. She reached the baseline at the same time the Moon Valley was coming down. She extended her arm and smashed the all to the left corner of the court, passing by a surprised Oishi. The courts were silent as they witnessed what just happened.

"Sakura-sempai just defeated Oishi-sempai's Moon Volley… with a backflip?" Horio couldn't believe his eyes at what he just saw. Kachiro and Katsuo just stared blankly ahead with their jaws hanging open. "How flexible is she? She's more flexible than Kikumaru-sempai!"

Amane smiled when she saw Sakura and Kiki high-fived each other. "Sakura-chan's tennis is coming out. People say her tennis is the same as Kikumaru's but there are some differences." Amane transferred her weight from one foot to another, feeling a little bit more uncomfortable with their stares on her.

"Please Amane-san, do explain." Inui formulated some theories in his head, but he needed some evidence to back it up.

"Both of their styles are similar, but if I were to describe it, Sakura-chan's would be more graceful and fluid while Kikumaru-san's style is based more on instinct." Amane voiced her thoughts as she watched the Sakura launch herself from a somersault to a cartwheel. That particular move reminded Amane how she looked like when she performed when they showed the boys their talents. "Sakura-chan incorporated her gymnastics into her tennis and really made it her own. But she focuses more on a choreographed floor routine than on her instincts while playing on the court. Because of that, she can play better at the baseline where she has more room to think than at the net."

"Game Kobayashi-Takahashi 2-1. Switch sides."

Kikumaru and Oishi huddled together again to talk about what was happening.

"This is bad nya. If we let them keep this pace, they'll totally wipe the floor with us!"

"That's right. But it looks like Sakura-san is weaker with fast shots. Let's try aiming al the smashes towards her."

"All right! It's time for us to take the lead back!"

Oishi got ready to serve while Kikumaru started flipping his racket. When he served, Kiki hit it back towards Oishi, leaving enough space so that Kikumaru couldn't get it but he lunged out at it anyway and caught up with it. Sakura didn't have enough time to react and could just watch as the ball whizzed past her.

"15-Love"

Sakura frowned when she saw that the two boys realized one of her weaknesses. Although she is graceful with her movements, it doesn't mean anything if she can't react fast enough to their shots. But Kiki still had a backup. She signaled to Kiki with a nod of her head that she was ready. The game continued as though nothing passed between them.

"Game Oishi-Kikumaru 2-all"

"Game Oishi-Kikumaru 3-2. Switch sides."

"Game Oishi-Kikumaru 4-2."

"Game Kobayashi-Takahashi 3-4. Switch sides."

"Yes!" Horio jumped up "The Golden Pair still has the advantage."

"But something seems off doesn't it?" Katsuo asked Kachirou who nodded. "Yeah, the games are getting a little bit longer aren't they?"

As Kaidoh watched the rally, he had a realization when Oishi did a forehand. "Aren't all the balls heading towards Oishi-sempai more than Kikumaru-sempai?"

Inui looked up and observed the rally a bit closer, "You're right Kaidoh. I wonder why they're doing that though. Oishi doesn't have a stamina problem so it shouldn't cause that much damage."

Oishi grunted as he returned another ball. _Try saying that when you are returning these balls Inui. They get heavier and heavier by the minute_. He sighed as another ball came flying towards him. But then Kikumaru jumped in front of Oishi to return the ball. Oishi immediately ran to the empty side of the court to cover.

"Don't worry Oishi. I'll get these balls too so that you're not so tired. Count on me." Oishi smiled when Kikumaru ran to intercept another ball for him.

Outside of the court, Inui's eyes narrowed when he saw Kikumaru covering for Oishi. "They couldn't be thinking about that could they?" Inui frowned as he scribbled furiously in his notebook. Amane's eyes widened slightly when she saw how fast Inui figured out what was going on. It took her a long time to figure out what Kiki was planning and even that was only because she was teammates with her for all these years. _But this guy, even without knowing what was going on, he used what little information we gave him and figured the rest out by just observing the match. What an incredible guy, Inui Sadaharu._

The freshman looked at Inui with a confused look and were going to ask what was going on but Inui interrupted them before they could even ask "Kiki-san is focusing on Oishi for two reasons." Inui paused as he turned the page in his notebook. "Even though Oishi has enough stamina to last him the rest of the match, the balls that are being hit to him are to the corners and very low balls. He's having to bend his knees farther and farther to reach them. This takes a huge toll on his stamina. It must seem like the ball is as heavy as a brick."

"But she has other reasons to do that to Kikumaru as well, " Amane's eyes went back and forth as she watched the rally intently. "Although it doesn't work as well as with Oishi, Kikumaru's stamina is being drained as well. The balls are placed far away enough that Kikumaru has to take a couple of steps to reach it. Because he wants to help Oishi, he runs around trying to get as many balls as he can. But if he does that, his movements become less instinctual and less spontaneous. That way, Sakura-chan doesn't have to worry about not being able to pick up the balls and she can keep playing her tennis style."

The freshman's eyes widened as they processed everything they were told. They couldn't believe that Kiki could make a plan like that after only watching their opponents for a couple of games. Katsuo then had a thought. "Wait then doesn't that mean she has the same style of tennis as Inui-sempai?"

"Actually she doesn't. My tennis focuses more on analyzing the opponent and predicting where their shots are going to land next."

"But Kiki-chan doesn't predict what the opponent is going to hit next. She analyzes her opponent for their weak points and uses it against them. That way she forces them to hit back the shot that she wants them to hit." Amane turns back to the game "If the opponent shows a new weak point then she just adds it into her plan."

"Game Kobayashi-Takahashi 4-all."

Kikumaru and Oishi caught their breath while looking at each other out of the corner of their eyes. They nodded at each other before getting ready for Kiki's serve.

Oishi bent down for the serve as he starting thinking. He knew there was a reason that all the balls were centered towards him more than Kikumaru since he was the one with the lower stamina.

He hadn't missed that calculating look in Kiki's eyes from before and shivered when he saw how much it looked like a predator's eyes when it closes in on its prey.

But underneath it all, he saw pure determination and raw power flow through her eyes. This girl knew what she needed to do and will do anything to do it. The determination shone when an extra difficult shot came her way and then raw power took over as she tried her hardest to send the ball flying over the net. Even now, her hidden feelings are playing across her eyes and he knew this wasn't the end.

Kikumaru watched the rally with his eyes but he was actually calculating on how to counterattack Kiki's plan. He gets the fact that Kiki uses their weak points to her advantage but he's still confused as to how they can fix their flaws in the middle of the game. Especially when he doesn't know what his weakness is. He knows he has weak stamina but when he's at the net, the distance becomes smaller so he doesn't have to run around as much and he always has Oishi to back him up.

As a lightbulb goes off in Kikumaru's head, the ball whizzes past his backhand side. He stretches his arm behind him to volley the ball back. Sakura, being startled by his sudden movement, can't move to return ball.

Amane frowns when the ball passes by Sakura. Her frown depends when she sees Kikumaru spin towards Oishi with a giddy expression on his face.

"It looks like it's Kikumaru-sempai's turn to come up with a plan." Kaidoh crosses his arms in a fashion not unlike Tezuka's stance.

"It does look like that." Inui's glasses flashed as he for once isn't taking notes, his notebook tucked under his arm, while he rests his hand from all that writing. "It's pretty ironic that Kikumaru is facing someone like Kiki. But it's good experience as well."

"Experience?" Inui turned to see the freshman staring at him. "What do you mean by that Inui-sempai. If it's experience than Kikumaru-sempai should have more than enough."

"That is playing experience. It helps him increase his own tennis style but the experience he is gaining today will help him realize how his actions affect him and his partner along with his opponents."

"In other words, Kikumaru-san will think about what he should do next. For example, the placement of the ball depending on his opponents or how he'll place himself based on where Oishi-san is on the court."

"Even now, he's learning how to work together with Oishi in order to finish the game as quickly as possible." Inui half-smiled as he saw Oishi's face light up with a huge grin "It was a good idea placing these four against each other." Amane looked at Inui with a thoughtful stare before turning to Kiki and Sakura. She smile happily at the two best friends "Yes. Yes it really was."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"That's a great idea Eiji! This will definitely work!" Oishi's eyes were shining as he thought about what Kikumaru had just told him. They were somehow leading 5-4 but that last game really took a toll on his stamina. This game is the one that is most crucial. If they lost, he won't have enough stamina to keep going. So with this, he placed all his last hopes on Kikumaru's plan.

"Alright! Let's do this Oishi!"

The two players faced their waiting opponents with grins on their faces. Kiki's eyes narrowed, knowing that they have something up their sleeves.

Oishi served, hitting it straight towards Kiki with barely any topspin on it. She was really confused as to why he served a really easy ball, but she adjusted her grip to hit a really powerful forehand with a lot of spin towards Kikumaru's backhand, seeing as how he was getting ready for a forehand. Her eyes widened when Oishi appeared right where the ball was heading. Kikumaru headed over to the other empty side of the court. Sakura saw that there was an open strip of court right down the middle. She ran to intercept the ball and to hit a straight shot down the middle.

As soon as Sakura started running, Kikumaru pivoted on his right foot and started sprinting towards the middle. Kiki knew that Sakura didn't see Kikumaru run back and started calling out to her to stop the ball.

"No! Stop sem-"

"Kikumaru Beam!"

"-pai."

Sakura already had her racket out so all she could do was tilt her racket up slightly and hope that it went to the opposite corner of Oishi. As soon as the ball left her racket, Kikumaru leaped up and smashed the ball.

The smash hit the corner of the court cleanly as Kiki and Sakura could do nothing but stare. All of a sudden, Kiki started laughing softly while Sakura stared at her. "They got us this time." She kept laughing as she watched Kikumaru run and glomp Oishi.

Sakura followed her gaze and smiled broadly at the scene before her. "It seems like they did."

"I'm having so much fun Sakura-sempai."

"Me to Kiki-chan. Me too."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Inui stopped writing when the laughter of the girls reached his ears, "They're laughing. That's a little…"

"Unexpected?" Inui looked at Amane who looked away as soon as his eyes locked with hers. Something about his gaze was calculating, like he could find out what all her weaknesses were even if she just stood there.

"I was going to say strange but unexpected works too."

"That just means that they're having a lot of fun." Kaidoh looked at Amane before watching Kiki laught with Sakura. The ends of his mouth curled up lightly when a particularly difficult ball was saved by her, a full-blown smile spread across her face.

She looked almost radiant as she played, not the usual, shy, wallpaper girl she normally was. He didn't even know that she was in his Math and English classes until the day after the first tutoring lesson. He was completely surprised when the teacher called on her to answer a question. His mouth hung slightly open as she answered and then met his eyes. Her own eyes lit up with amusement when she saw the shock on his face before turning back to the board.

Kaidoh's mouth curled up even more when Kiki cried out in frustration when she couldn't get the ball. On his side, Inui was writing furiously about all that he just saw, even the smile on Kaidoh's face.

The freshman had their mouths hanging open and their eyes were wide when they saw their normally scary sempai with a smile on his face. Amane giggled at their expressions, knocking Kaidoh out of his thoughts. When he saw the three freshman with shocked expressions and his sempai giggling, he blushed lightly, causing the freshman's eyes to widen further. Did their sempai just smile _and_ blush.

Good god. The world is ending.

Noticing this, Kaidoh hissed harshly. The 3 boys jumped and hid behind Amane, who was laughing even harder. But she stopped laughing when she realized with a sudden epiphany that Kikumaru had just broken Kiki's plan. No one had done that in such a short period of time. She was especially interested in the way Inui's pen flew over the page, as if he knew what he was supposed to be writing…

"Inui-san. Do you know what Kikumaru-san is thinking?"

"Well it's actually very complicated. I'm surprised that Kikumaru actually thought about it. He's turning Kiki's talent of finding weak spots and turning it against her."

"Against her? How can he do that?"

"You see, Kikumaru is forcefully creating weakspots that only someone with talents like Kiki can pick up on. Kikumaru and Oishi already know these spots so when she tries to aim for it, they cover it up at the last second. It's something that only those two can do." Inui watches as Kikumaru scored another point. "They don't even realize that they unconsciously turned on 'Synchro'."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Game and Match, Kikumaru-Oishi pair, 7-5."

"Yay! We won! We did it Oishi!" Kikumaru bounded all over the court and around a panting Oishi before latching on to him. "We're number 1 always!"

"How can you still have so much energy?" Sakura was on the ground, leaning back onto her hands. "I can barely stand."

Kikumaru laughed before leaning over the net and petting Sakura's head like a dog. "It's just cause I'm betting. Mada mada da nya!" Kikumaru sang, stealing Ryoma's favorite catchphrase.

Somewhere on the other courts, a Fila-capped boy sneezed.

Sakura, on the other hand, looked like she was going to blow. She jumped up and got into another argument with Kikumaru.

Seeing as how this would take a while, Kiki walked over to Oishi with a question in her mind. "Oishi-sempai, don't you ever get back pains from Kikumaru-sempai jumping on you all the time?" Oishi blinked at the seriousness in Kiki's eyes. Of all the things to ask him , she asked the one question no one really bothered about. What a strange girl.

"Ah, in the beginning I did, but I got used to it after a year. It's not that bad now."

Kiki turned her head to look at the arguing couple, "Somehow I just can't imagine that you actually got used to it."

Kiki thought about how many times Sakura kept jumping on her or running into her or pulling her. There had been an instance where Kiki was going to tell Sakura's dad that Sakura broke a very expensive lamp. In a fit of desperation, Sakura lunged towards Kiki, clinging onto her leg so that she couldn't get away. Kiki started dragging Sakura with her towards the door, but as soon as she was about to touch the handle, Sakura lunged backwards, bringing Kiki with her. They scuffled around the floor for a little while, bumping into tables and sofas and chairs. In the end, Sakura ended up with a broken vase, broken window, ripped coach, tipped over T.V., and a furious father.

Kiki smiled as she remembered more incidents like that one where she would act less and less like herself, "But then again, I think that I got used to it too."

Sakura and Kikumaru were still glaring at each other when a hand came in front of Kikumaru's face. Startled, he stepped back a bit before connecting the hand with the person. Kiki's smiling face came into view, "Thanks for the match Kikumaru-sempai. I enjoyed it so much." Kikumaru's face broke into a grin as well when he shook her hand. To the side, he saw that Sakura and Oishi had shaken hands as well. The four then headed to the benches to pack up.

Outside the court, the spectators watched as the doubles players put their rackets away and got their water bottles.

"It was a good match." Kaidoh finally said, breaking the silence. Amane looked at Kaidoh before replying with a smile "Yeah. It feels like they've all matured, even if just a little."

**It doesn't seem like it's been a long time since I last updated but I guess it has. I hope you guys all had a nice Christmas and a happy New Year. I know I did! :P**

**If you guys feel like the 'true' personalities of the girls are confusing or unclear, my chapters after the next one will be a little bit clearer as to how they truly act. I am just gonna say it right now so that when you read the next chapters, you won't be as confused. If you still have questions, please feel free to ask. It benefits me as well.**

**Ami: very childish but has a mature side (very small) that really cares about her friends and family**

**Amu: a very mature girl who is really shy. She can take control easily and knows what to do in dire situations. She is the more mature one of the two twins and takes care of Ami a lot, even going as far as to do the paperwork that the captain must do because Ami doesn't want to do it. She acts a lot like an adult but she has many secrets that she doesn't want other people to know about so she keeps this barrier up. **

**Usio: a girl who is calculating but is very kind and sweet to her teammates. She is very protective over the two twins because they saved her from a living hell. She would do anything to protect them and keep them from harm but she knows when she can intervene and when she can't**

**Amane: a sweet, loving girl who is kind and caring. Just an all around nice girl. Kind of like those next-door neighbor kind of girls.**

**Sakura: very energetic but is actually more mischievous. She can be mean to people she doesn't like but acts very sweet around those she does. Really just picture her like a dog. Not those bouncy energetic ones but the dogs that you come home to and just play with for a while.**

**Taki: a lovable girl that makes people smile by just being in her presence. She knows the right things to say to people and loves to help people in trouble. She always worries about other people's happiness above her's.**

**Kiki: a shy, wallpaper kind of girl. She is actually very energetic and fun to be around but is to shy to express it. She only shows it around the girls. But she loves to go on adventures and explore new places as well.**

**Sakuno: unlike her self from 3 years ago, she is confident and can stand up for herself (with people she knows). But she is still shy with new people and they sometimes scare her. But she is also very kind and sweet. But she doesn't know what she wants and is very confused (a little foreshadowing into the next chapter).**

**If this still doesn't help then seriously just ask cause I would love to clarify stuff. You guys really keep me going and I love all the support you are giving me.**

**BUT PLEASE REVIEW! IF I DON'T REACH AT LEAST 40 REVIEWS I MIGHT NOT UPDATE! I'm just kidding but seriously the more reviews I get, the faster I type. So please just help me here. And I'm open for ideas as well so give me anything you want and I will see if I can include some stuff. Thanks!**

**-+- smilingbookworm95-+-**


	12. Chapter 11: Spinning Round and Round

**Disclaimer: I'm not Japanese; I'm not male so I definitely do not own Prince of Tennis**

I am totally not worth your loyalty to this story. I have no excuse that is worth this wait that I made you guys go through. To make it up, I made this story as long as I could and I added some RyoSaku for those patient readers. I don't expect you guys to forgive me because I certainly don't forgive myself. Well I'm not going to keep you any longer so enjoy and I hope you like it!

_**PLEASE REVIEW!**_

"talking" '_thinking'_

**Chaos With Some Love** – Chapter 11: Spinning Round and Round

"Game Fuji, 3-all"

Taki was panting slightly as she caught her breath. Across the net, she could see Fuji doing the exact same thing. The past six games were uneventful as they just tested each other out. But Taki knew that Fuji was playing to her weaknesses, as the last two games had been a bit difficult.

_But then again,_ Taki thought while getting ready for Fuji's serve, '_I usually did my best when I was in a pinch.'_

Fuji faced his opponent and watched as Taki's face turned a little bit happier before turning back into a gloomy face, a frown resting on her lips. She had looked like this since the moment her hand touched that racket. It didn't bother him so much as to ruin his match play but it was a bit unnerving when she looked like she lost her best friend, so very opposite from her normally smiling face.

Fuji had to admit that in the past couple of weeks, Taki was growing on him. She was like that itch that never went away but she wasn't annoying. Her smile was so real and happy, unlike his own, that he couldn't help but become happier by just being in the same room as her. And, if he knew his teammates, they felt the same way.

Out of all the girls, Taki was the one who was most readily accepted by everyone. That's why they couldn't help but be surprised that first Saturday when she held her racket and her attitude took a complete 180 degree turn. The change was so sudden and drastic that they could feel the room turn a couple of degrees coolers. In that short span of time, the boys felt such hopelessness and despair radiate from Taki that it crawled on their skin and threatened to choke them. They were thankful when the racket was taken away and the room became warmer once again.

Of course that wasn't the first time Fuji had seen the girls. He had some classes with a few of them before but Taki and Amu seemed like the two girls he felt some pull towards. He was glad that he could call Taki his friend yet a little upset that the latter was actually pulling farther away from him.

Although Fuji was lost in his thoughts, he still played normally and could keep a rally going. This angered Taki a little bit because she felt like she was being looked down upon. As the next shot came closer, she changed her grip just a little and sent a ball with enormous topspin towards Fuji. Taken a bit by surprise, Fuji over hit the ball and it landed a couple of inches behind the baseline.

"Fuji, please play seriously." Fuji looked up at Taki. "I'm actually a pretty tough opponent. Well that's what Ami said to me and I believe her sometimes. But she could have lied to make me feel better or-"

"Taki. Calm down and concentrate on the match." Usio's voice rang throughout the courts as she stood outside the fence with Kawamura standing next to her.

"Ah. I'm sorry Usio.

"It's okay. Now just get back to the match and don't lose your focus."

"Alright." With those few words, Fuji could see that some confidence came back into Taki's stance as she bent her knees a little more and tightened her hold on her racket. He could see that these girls had such love and respect for each other, almost like a family.

Fuji's smile widened as he thought about how hard it was going to be to break through their defense. But this match wouldn't have been fun any other way.

Fuji served again, this time to the far right corner. Taki lunged for the ball and barely reached it. Using both hands, she returned the ball with a backhand to the opposite side of Fuji. Deciding that he should step it up a notch, Fuji sprinted to the ball and gave Kiki a deep baseline shot.

"Out. Love-30"

Fuji blinked once when he heard that the ball was out. He was sure that he had put enough topspin to reach just before the baseline. Keeping it in mind, Fuji served another ball with a little bit of a slice to give it a little kick.

Anticipating this, Taki ran forwards and countered his slice with topspin. Fuji then hit a lob, knowing that Taki would hit a smash. He was right as Taki took her arm and got ready in the smash position.

Fuji turned around into the familiar stance of Higuma Otoshi and felt the ball reach his racket. As soon as he uncrossed his arms, he felt a weird tingling crawl across his arm. Knowing something was going to happen, he waited for the ball to land.

"Out. Love-40"

Fuji frowned once more when the score got called out. He wasn't sure if it was something he did wrong of if Taki added a little something to the smash. He decided to test it out in the next point. As Taki returned the ball towards the right side, Fuji raised his racket and prepared to hit a Tsubame Gaeshi.

Seconds before his racket touched the ball, Fuji saw the ball move a little to the left. Seeing as his hand was already in motion, he just went through with the shot, feeling the ball hit the frame of his racket. The ball flew in the air for a second before crashing into the net.

Now he was positive that Taki did something to the ball, seeing as how he just missed two of his Triple Counters. Utterly confused, Fuji pressed on with the game, trying to gain as much information as he could.

"Game Yamada, 4-3"

Outside the fence, Kawamura was gaping at Taki openly. He had never seen Fuji so frustrated before. But he could understand why. The last person who could seal his Triple Counters was Shiraishi of Shitenhouji. To think that someone like Taki was right in their own school was mind-blowing. He remembered the feeling of having your moves, which have taken sweat and hard work to perfect, returned so easily back when he faced Kabaji and the Ishida brothers. It was agonizing and painful to see all your work go down the drain.

"This is just the beginning Kawamura. Taki will never give up, even if all odds are against her and her back is against the wall. That's when she plays her best actually," Usio smiled as she watched her teammate. Kawamura looked at Usio before looking at the match. He also smiled when he saw the look of pure determination in Fuji's eyes before he closed them once more.

"But, Fuji has a strange way of turning things around at the last minute. And Taki-san is going to find that out real soon."

{[x – X – x – X – x – X – x]}

Fuji ran to the ball that had a super topspin (which he understatedly named) and had to slice it to get it over the net. For the past couple of minutes, they had been alternating between slices and topspins that hurt his arm muscles terribly. Unfortunately Taki was a patient girl so she could stay in a rally for a long time.

Fuji then noticed that it was easier to slice the ball if there was topspin to it and vice versa. After watching Taki hit another topspin, Fuji waited until the ball was right by him and hit a clean drop shot. Because of the slice countering the topspin, the ball didn't drop as low as he wanted it to but it was right by the net, while Taki was at the baseline.

Suddenly, Taki appeared right next to the ball and hit an approach shot to the corner of the service court on the right side. Fuji was too shocked to move.

'_How did she get there that fast,' _he thought, '_She couldn't have known that I was going to hit a drop shot. I waited until the last minute so she would have had to lunge for it. It couldn't be the Shukuchi Method either….or could it….'_

"No Fuji," Fuji was brought back to reality and looked up to meet Taki's face. "It's not the Shukuchi Method."

Startled that Taki could read minds, Fuji opened his eyes and stared at the girl who responded immediately. "And not no I can't read minds either. We went against Higa Chuu during the Nationals as well. I just knew your mind would go there."

"Well then would you like to explain how you hit that approach shot so quickly?"

"Oh, I knew you were going to hit a drop shot in order to counter my topspin, so I waited. Right as you were about the hit the drop shot, you had a sort of happy smile on your face and I knew then that you were going to slice the ball." The ends of Taki's mouth curved up a little when she saw Fuji's eyes widen a tiny bit and his smile drop a few centimeters. Immediately, Taki's mouth also dropped before adding, "Sorry but better men than you have tried and failed. Think of something else." Frowning, Fuji went back to the baseline and got ready for the incoming serve.

Meanwhile, outside of the court, Kikumaru, Oishi, Sakura, and Amane had returned from their match and were being caught up by Kawamura and Usio. Inui, Kaidoh and Kiki went to go see Amu's match while the Freshman Trio had to go home.

"So what your saying is that Taki-chan adds ridiculous amounts of spin to the ball?" Kikumaru tried to simplify the explanation.

"Well not exactly," Usio started. "All Taki does is take the spin of Fuji's ball and adds her own spin to it. So if Fuji gives her topspin, she adds her own topspin to it in order to make it spin even more. She controls the spin of the ball throughout the entire game."

"And it's not even like the Tezuka Zone," Oishi commented. "She can control the spin to the extent of making the others give her the ball she wants. All Tezuka Zone does is give the ball right back to him."

"And that's why she knew Fuji-san was going to hit a drop shot," Amane said. "She wanted him to hit one and set it up so that he could. Rather than waiting for a chance to counterattack, she made one herself."

"No way! Fujiko's really being pushed back. That's so scary!"

Oishi patted his partner's head to calm him. "It's okay Eiji. Fuji's not going down without a fight."

"Well our Taki-chan's not giving up either! She can win, I just know it." Sakura argued as she watched her teammate play.

"You might not want to say that out loud." Amane said, "Taki-chan might hear and get all sad again." Sakura immediately clamped her hands over her mouth and nodded her head.

On the courts, a rally was going on between the two players.

"It seems you've gotten used to the different spins Fuji." Taki commented as she saw Fuji execute a near perfect topspin forehand. "Impressive. No wonder they call you a genius."

"I could say the same to you Taki-san. I've gotten used to your style only because of a certain captain of ours. Otherwise, this match would have been yours a long time ago."

Taki smirked across the net. "Flattery will get you nowhere. This match will still be mine."

Fuji's smile widened a little bit, "And I was so hoping to get you off balance. Guess I'll have to try harder next time. But in the meantime, try this for size." Fuji sliced the ball and flipped his racket over and used the other side.

"Hecatoncheires no Monban!" Kikumaru yelled excitedly, face pressed into the net.

As Taki racket connected with the ball, a tingling sensation ran up her arm. As soon as she hit the ball, Fuji's voice could be heard, "Your ball is not going to go over the net." True to his words, the ball hit the tape of the net and fell back.

"15-all"

Taki stared at the ball before looking back at Fuji "That was a splendid ball Fuji but I have it figured out. It's not going to work again."

Fuji sighed but smiled once more, "I know but I could try right?" Fuji started thinking some more as he got ready for Taki's serve. He could hear the chatter from outside of the court and wondered if what they were saying was right.

{ [ x – X – x – X – x – X – x ] }

"Wait." Everyone outside the court turned to Kikumaru. "Why can't Fuji use Hecatoncheires no Monban again? I mean it worked didn't it?"

"Weren't you listening? Taki-chan said she already knows how to counter it." Sakura said.

Usio nodded alongside her, "That's right. She knows that if she puts enough topspin on the ball, she can counter the slice. Taki figured it out as soon as the ball hit her racket."

"But even if Hecatoncheires no Monban doesn't work, Fuji still has one more counter doesn't he? Why can't he use _it_? It's a sure fire win." Kawamura reasoned out. Kikumaru and Oishi both frowned as they remembered what Kawamura was talking about.

"_It_? What is _it_?" Sakura asked but she was ignored.

Everyone watched Fuji intently as they tried to figure out what was going on in his head.

Oishi gasped as soon as he saw a glimpse of Fuji's eyes. "It's not like he _can't_ use it but he doesn't _want _to use it."

"Go on," Usio said, trying to see where he was going with this.

"Fuji's stubborn like most of the guys on our team. He wants to be able to win this fight without having to use any special tricks. He wants to see how far he can go and how high his skill level is. He's using pure determination and guts alone to try and win this match."

Amane smiled, "But our Taki's not so weak that Fuji-san can beat her using just his determination. Sooner or later he has to bring _it_ out."

"Like I asked before, what is _IT_!" Sakura yelled and pouted, as she still didn't get an answer.

Kikumaru grinned as he turned to face the rapidly reddening girl, "You just have to wait and see. Patience or else _it_ won't come out."

Sakura's head now resembled a whistling teapot

Back on the courts…

"30-15" (Taki's serve just in case you've forgotten cause I know I have)

Fuji sighed as he realized that the spectators were right. If he wanted to win this game, he needed more than just his willpower. It's not that he was stubborn enough to not use his counters if he needed to, but he just really wanted to see how far his determination would take him. He was actually surprised that Taki was able to get four games from him but enough is enough. It's time to make his counterattack.

Taki put lots of topspin on her serve and pushed it to the corner of the service court. As soon as the ball left her racket, she sprinted forward after the ball.

"Service dash!"

Noticing this, Fuji hit the shot down the middle of the court. Unfortunately, Taki expected this and was already in place. She doubled the slice of the ball by using the long end of the racket. Taki was feeling that even if Fuji could reach the ball, he wouldn't be able to send it over the net. She relaxed and waited for the call to be made. (Tezuka: Yudan sezu ni ikou).

All of a sudden, the ball whizzed past Taki's face and landed right on the baseline. Taki's mouth dropped open and she stared wide-eyed at Fuji whose deep-sea blue eyes were peeping slightly under his eyelids.

"Kagerou Zutsumi"

"30-all"

"That's the way Fuji! Take it all the way home. You can do it!"

"YEAH FUJI! YOU CAN DO IT! GREAT-O!"

"Ah! Who gave Taka-san a racket! Everyone duck!

"Shut up Eiji-kun! You are so noisy!"

"What did you say! I dare you to say it again!"

"Gladly!"

"Sakura!"

"Eiji!"

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Taki screamed at the sideline people. Everyone jumped at her loud voice and stared at Taki.

Ignoring the looks, Taki went back to the baseline to serve once more. This time after she hit another topspin serve, Taki waited at the baseline and watched Fuji's movements carefully. As he hit a backhand, Taki detected nothing wrong so she hit a forehand and deciding to keep the ball nice and low, Taki hit a slice to the ball and sent it flying.

'_Let's see if he can return that. There's no way to return it. That other time was just a fluke.'_

As soon as she looked up, Taki knew something was wrong. Fuji had gotten to the ball fast enough and he looked like he had no problem returning the ball. In fact, it looked like he hit a normal ball. That was when Taki decided that something was wrong. She knew that she put enough slice on the ball so that Fuji would have to bend to reach it. Not knowing what else to do, Taki let the rally continue. But after a while, she lost her concentration and made a forced error.

"30-40"

In the next rally, as Taki looked closer at the ball she first noticed nothing but after staring at it for awhile, she realized what was going on.

'_There's no spin on the ball! I've been hitting balls with lots of spin but they're coming back to me with no spin! What is he doing?'_

Since Taki was too focused on trying to solve the puzzle, she hit a short shot right before the service line. Fuji took this opportunity and hit a clean drive shot winner to the opposite side of the court Taki was on.

"Game Fuji, 4-all"

Taki immediately interrogated Fuji, "What were you doing. No matter what spin I hit, you always gave it back with no spin whatsoever."

"Nice observation Taki-san. As expected of you."

"Cut the crap Fuji and tell me!"

Fuji raised his eyebrows again at how different Taki was with a racket in her hand. But he smiled again and explained to the frustrated girl, "It was one of my counters, Kagerou Zutsumi. It nullifies all spin on the ball and gives it back to them as a sinker ball. Your spins have no effect on me."

Taki sighed as all her anger left her when she heard Fuji's explanation, "I was right. Fuji is a genius. This game is as good as his."

{[ x – X – x – X – x – X – x ]}

"Game and match Fuji, 6-4"

Taki and Fuji firmly shook hands at the net. One was smiling and the other…

"I knew I was going to lose. Why did Ami make me play against him? She said I'd do fine but now look at what happened, I lost. I'm never listening to Ami ever aga- Good match Fuji! I had so much fun!" Fuji started getting irritated of listening to Taki's rant so he took her racket away from her.

"I really did have a lot of fun Fuji. You were a great opponent for me. I learned what I could do to improve."

"Yes it seems like all the matches were set up in a way that all of us could see our weaknesses and improve."

"Yeah you're right. I wonder who planned this."

"It was Ami," Both players turned to see Usio and the gang coming over. Both Kawamura and Kikumaru congratulated Fuji while Amane and Sakura told Taki that she did a good job. "Ami put all the matches together for that reason. She's already planning ahead for the Mixed Nationals. This is her idea of practice."

"Wow," Fuji commented. "Your buchou really thought things through for this one. She's something to be reckoned for."

Suddenly, thunder boomed through the sky and they saw clouds coming closer. A couple seconds later, they saw lightning flash across the sky followed by more thunder. As soon as it started to rain, the group heard Tezuka's voice and saw the rest of the gang come from the other court.

"Everyone, gather up the tennis balls and nets and get them into the shed. Quickly." All the players scrambled around to gather up all the equipment. They all went towards the shed while Tezuka used the key to open it.

Ami was limping while carrying a basket of balls because she accidently overexerted herself when playing against Ryoma. But after a bag of ice and a pillow, she'd be fine. It took a lot of convincing but she finally got Usio and Amu to calm down. But with the luck she was having today, something was bound to happen.

Ami tripped over a stray tennis ball, her box flew into the air and chaos ensued. People got hit in the head, the side, the legs, or even the face. A couple of tennis balls managed to bounce off a racket and hit some poles by the shed. The poles then went flying into the air.

Everyone froze and watched as the poles came tumbling down and smacked poor Ami in the head. She staggered for a bit, looking dazed, before crashing to the ground.

"Ami!" Amu sprinted to her sister followed by everyone else. When Tezuka turned around at the scream, he was met with the sight of tennis balls and poles everywhere and both teams crowded around an unconscious captain.

'_I turn around for one minutes and this is what happens_.'

Suppressing a sigh, Tezuka walked over to the group, "What's going on here?"

"Well you see…" Oishi began explaining to Tezuka what had happened. At the end, Tezuka heaved a (small) sigh and kneeled next to Amu.

"Is she alright?"

"Yeah. She's just knocked out." Amu looked up into the rain "But it's going to be a little difficult getting back home."

Tezuka nodded and then picked up Ami bridal style and switched her so that she was riding piggyback. He then opened an umbrella from his tennis bag, positioned it above both of their heads and started walking.

Shocked, Amu just stood there holding her bag. Tezuka turned around and motioned for her to come along and show him the way. He turned to Oishi and said, "I'm taking them home so be sure to lock up the clubhouse." Oishi nodded and said he would.

Still a little shell shocked, Amu scrambled around to get Ami's bag and her bag and was about to grab Tezuka's as well when another hand came and took it. When Amu looked up, she saw Fuji smiling and holding his and Tezuka's bags along with another umbrella. He silently started walking towards Tezuka knowing that she would follow. More than a little humbled and awed, Amu caught up to Fuji and Tezuka and exited under Fuji's umbrella.

The regulars watched the four of them leave with a smile on their faces. The smiles turned into frowns as the storm grew heavier and they were forced to quickly clean up the courts. As soon as everything was in the shed, Oishi locked the door before turning around to face everyone.

"Good job everyone. You can all go home now. There's practice tomorrow morning so have a nice rest today and come bright and early."

"Alright. Thank you." Everyone ran to get all their stuff before leaving at their own pace to their various destinations.

{ [ x – X – x – X – x – X – x ] }

Momoshiro burst through the doors of the burger shop that he always frequents. He ran up to the counter to order his food.

"I'd like 12 burgers, 5 fries, and 2 milkshakes please!" The counter girl looked shocked that a person could eat that much right before dinner. Then again, she learned to never underestimate the power of a high school athlete's stomach.

While his order was getting ready, Momoshiro grabbed an empty booth to sit it. A couple of minutes later, his number was called and he went to grab his food. As soon as he sat down and opened up one burger, a familiar voice caused him to look up.

"Momoshiro-kun?" An was standing next to his booth with Kamio and Ibu right next to her. "I knew it was you. No one else could eat that much food."

Saying that, An slid down and sat right next to Momo. Fuming, Kamio couldn't help but sit across from Momo and next to Ibu.

"An-chan, why did you have to sit next to him of all people?" whined Kamio as he watched Momo finish off his third burger.

"What do you mean of all people? You trying to pick a fight?" Momoshiro retorted as he picked up another burger. "I can beat you in tennis anytime, anywhere."

"I mean what I mean. And you couldn't beat me even if I played with one eye closed. And stop eating so much. It's disgusting just watching you." Momoshiro abruptly stood up. "This has nothing to do with tennis."

Kamio also stood up, "Of course this doesn't have anything to do with tennis! Are you stupid or something?" Both boys were in each others faces and glaring each other down.

"Come on you two, break it up. I don't want to get kicked out of the restaurant." An calmly took one of Momoshiro's milkshakes and started drinking from it. "So Momoshiro-kun, how did the matches go today?"

"I wouldn't know. I had a family reunion so I had to come home right after school. I got permission to miss practice today. I thought I'd get some fresh air so I came here."

"Oh really. That's too bad. I guess I'll just ask Sakuno and as how it went." As An texted Sakuno, Momoshiro turned towards Kamio and Ibu, "So how's Fudomine's condition?"

"We're doing great," Kamio smiled. "The next time, we're not going to lose to you guys again."

Momoshiro grinned back at Kamio. All of a sudden, the two people felt a disturbing aura.

"I feel like I'm not wanted here. The three of you guys have some weird relationship. But you have a relationship nonetheless. Ah if only Echizen-kun were here. I saw he got a new grip tape and it looks so comfortable. Where does he get this stuff from. I wish I knew them…." Momoshiro, An, and Kamio sweat dropped as Ibu went on a huge rant.

"Ah Ibu-kun. Sorry. We didn't really mean it." An apologized with a sheepish look on her face.

"She's right Shinji. We're sorry. Isn't that right Porcupine head?" Momoshiro fumed in anger, "Who's a Porcupine head, you speed freak?"

"What'd you say?"

"Yeah you heard me!"

"Neither of them were sorry were they? They were just being polite. But how rude can that be. They should just tell me the truth instead of lying to my face…"

An looked around the table at the commotion and just sighed.

'_Here we go again.'_

{ [ x – X – x – X – x – X – x ] }

Kaidoh could feel the rain pouring down on his head, but he ignored it and just kept running. As he ran, the rhythm of his feet was only drowned out by the pounding of his heart.

The steady beat caused some sort of calmness within him. He forgot about everything for just a little while and just focused on his running.

After a while, Kaidoh couldn't feel the rain anymore so when he looked at his surroundings, he found out he was under the bridge that he practiced at this morning (which seemed so long ago). Deciding to stop for a break, Kaidoh sat down and leaned against the wall, listening to the rain on the bridge, the river flowing, the cars honking and the puppy barking for help.

….wait a minute.

Kaidoh's eyes flew open as soon as he heard another bark near the river. As he looked around, Kaidoh saw a little puppy stuck on the bridges base in the water (like in that one episode when Kaidoh and Momoshiro saved that puppy).

Without a second thought, Kaidoh threw off his jacket and his tennis bag and jumped into the river. As soon as his head broke the surface, he saw the puppy slip and fall into the water.

Kaidoh swam vigorously towards the puppy and when he got close enough, he grabbed the collar on the neck and pulled the puppy towards him. Right away, Kaidoh started swimming back to shore. But the waves were strong and kept pushing him back. Water flew into his mouth and nose and burned his eyes.

'_I have no more energy left…What do I do now?'_ Kaidoh lost hope as he saw the shore grow farther and farther away. He just shut his eyes and prayed for some kind of miracle, any miracle.

And a miracle it was.

Seconds before Kaidoh lost consciousness, someone grabbed his shirt and pulled both of them back to the shore. The person dropped Kaidoh on the ground who started coughing up water. Eyes stinging, throat burning, and feeling more than just a little weak, Kaidoh laid down on his back and put the puppy on his stomach. As soon as he opened his mouth to thank whomever it was who saved him, a clear voice cut him off,

"Are you an idiot? You could've gotten yourself killed! What in the world were you thinking?"

Kaidoh immediately recognized that voice. Ignoring his sore muscles, Kaidoh leaned up onto his elbows and turned his head towards the voice. True enough, Kaidoh saw Kiki a couple of feet to his left. She was on her knees, bended over with her hands on the ground. She looked like she was taking in deep breaths. When she looked up, Kaidoh was met with an expression that was furious, but her eyes held nothing but concern.

With nothing to say, both teens just stared at each other for quite sometime. As the seconds went by, Kiki's face turned lighter and softer before turning into a relieved expression. She sighed lightly before crawling over to Kaidoh.

Kiki helped him sit up and rubbed his arms to get the blood flowing before moving to his shoulders and neck. Kaidoh was too sore to feel even slightly embarrassed and welcomed her attempts to help. A couple of minutes later, Kaidoh could noticeably feel better and he didn't need Kiki's help to sit up.

"So, do you wanna tell me why you jumped into the river like a madman?" Kiki crossed her arms impatiently. ."You were lucky I was here to save you."

Now that Kaidoh felt better, his ego dropped a couple of centimeters when he realized he was saved by a girl, "I didn't ask you to save me."

"Yeah well your body said otherwise. I know you train vigorously but that doesn't mean you have to danger yourself to do it."

"I wasn't training." Kaidoh growled out.

"Then what was it? Nothing is worth risking your life for. It had better be a-" Kiki was interrupted by a whining sort of noise and a bark. "What was that?"

Kaidoh looked down on his lap and picked up something. As soon as Kiki got a clear view, she saw a little yellow golden retriever puppy that fit neatly into Kaidoh's bent arm. Realization hit Kiki's face when she saw the wet fur of the dog and way Kaidoh protectively cradled him.

"That puppy…. it was drowning wasn't it? That was why you jumped in the river. To save him."

Kaidoh nodded his head while still looking at the puppy. Kiki saw the way Kaidoh gently stroked the puppy and couldn't help but smile. She reached forwards and petted the puppy on his head. Occasionally their hands would brush against each other, but they chose not to notice.

"I guess if it's for this little cutie, it's a good enough reason." Kaidoh looked up and saw Kiki's smiling face. Unbeknownst to him, the corners of his lips twitched upward slightly.

The sudden flash of lightning and boom of thunder brought the both of them back to reality. They hastily picked up their jackets and bags and took cover under the bridge.

"We should probably get home soon before the storm really starts to pick up." Kiki said as she put her jacket on. Kaidoh noticed that the puppy was shivering so he took his jacket and wrapped it around him. As Kiki watched Kaidoh, a question popped in her head.

"Kaidoh-kun. What are you going to do about him? Are you taking him home?" Kaidoh stopped what he was doing and thought for a second. "I don't know. Can you take him home?"

"I don't think my parents will let me. My relatives came over for a visit so we don't have much room in our house right now. My parents both work so they can't take care of him when I'm at school. What about at your house?"

"Maybe. I can try. If not, we can put him up for adoption."

"I don't think we need to." Kiki stated as she stared at the dog's neck. She then gently tugged on it until a collar came into view. "He has a collar so then that must mean he has an owner."

"All we have to do is put up lost and found posters and look around town." Kiki nodded her head and smiled. Kaidoh had said "we". She didn't want to think too much into it but she felt that Kaidoh had asked for her help in his own way. It was subtle but it was there. "I can make the posters for you if you want."

Kaidoh looked at her and nodded. "That'd be great, thanks." After hesitating for a second, Kaidoh spoke again, "I…. uh…. can walk you home…. if you want." His cheeks tinted pink and he looked away as he said that last sentence. They became a light red as Kiki laughed.

"That was sweet. Thank you for offering. But it's raining too much and my house is in the opposite direction."

Kaidoh nodded and bid her goodbye before going home himself.

{ [ x – X – x – X – x – X – x ] }

Kawamura shook his head as soon as he entered the gym. He was going to go home but decided that he should go to the gym and use the machines that he didn't have at home. The machines are all high tech and he could really train well here.

Kawamura went straight to the arm section to train his biceps and triceps. When he got to that section of the gym, he ran straight into someone. Kawamura just stumbled back and caught himself but the person who bumped into him fell right on her bottom.

"Ow…." The person below him muttered. Alarmed, Kawamura quickly helped the person up. "I am so sorry. I should have been watching where I was going. I'm really sorry."

The person laughed at his antics, "It's okay. It didn't hurt all that much anyway. I'm perfectly fine Kawamura-san"

Kawamura blinked once when the person said his name. He blinked again when he recognized the Seigaku shirt, the long brown hair and warm smile.

"Taki-san?" Said girl smiled wider when the boy in front of her finally figured out who she was. "What are you doing here Taki-san?"

"The same thing you are. I thought I would train some more. Although this is my first time coming here." As soon as she said that, Taki heard someone call her name and turned around to see Amane jogging towards her.

"Taki! Don't run away like that! I almost lost you!"

"Ah sorry!" Taki laughed while Amane bent over at the knees to catch her breath. "But look who I bumped into. Literally!"

Amane looked up and saw Kawamura waving slightly at her, "Kawamura-san! It's nice to see you"

"It's nice to see you too Amane-san."

"What are you doing here?"

"I just thought I would train some more" Kawamura replied as the three of them went more into the gym towards the machines.

"Then come train with us!" Taki replied as they stopped. "Please! It'll be fun!"

"Well I don't know….." But as soon as Taki drew a puppy dog face, Kawamura knew he couldn't refuse. "All right. I will."

"Yay!" Taki jumped in the air and ran ahead. Amane and Kawamura smiled at her innocence and followed.

"Thank you for the match today Amane-san. I really enjoyed it."

"Oh it was my pleasure. It was nice knowing that someone at Seigaku plays power tennis like I do. It'd be great if we could play some more or something. You know, to find out our weaknesses in each other."

Kawamura smiled as he and Amane caught up to Taki. "That'd be great."

Taki whirled around when the other two reached her. "This place is great! There are so many machines." Kawamura looked over her shoulder and his eyes widened at the multitude of machines behind her. Taki laughed and ran around to random machines. "I'm gonna try out this one and this one and that one and this one. This is going to be so much fun!"

Amane laughed and went to one of the open curlers and started warming up. Kawamura still stood in slight shock at everything. Noticing this, Taki ran over to him, grabbed his arm, and pulled him over. "Come on Kawamura-san. This place is amazing! I'm definitely coming here a lot more!"

Smiling and nodding his agreement, Kawamura walked deeper into the gym.

{ [ x – X – x – X – x – X – x ] }

"Sakura-chan where are we going?" Kikumaru yelled as he ran after Sakura. She had told him that she found this one store that she really wanted him to see. He was skeptical at first but agreed seeing as how their tastes were somewhat similar. After they were formerly introduced, they've been going to ice cream shops and sweet stores after school and just talking and learning about one another more. Trusting her completely, Kikumaru followed along. But after taking 2 buses, a train and walking for 3 miles, he really just wanted to get there already.

"We're almost there Eiji-kun. It's just around that corner," Sakura said over her shoulder as she turned right and waited for Kikumaru. Finally catching up to her, Kikumaru looked at the store Sakura was facing.

The store was small. Well smaller than Kikumaru expected after that long journey. But it looked cozy and homely with its warm colors and inviting signs. But as Kikumaru looked around, he saw that the store was something that was overlooked often. Now curious as to why Sakura chose this particular store, he followed her in through the entrance.

The inside was bigger than was projected from the outside. One side of the store had tables for people to sit and order their food. But Kikumaru was more interested in the other side. It had sofas and lounge chairs arranged neatly. On one wall was a massive bookcase with novels of all kind. Kikumaru even saw some manga and children books as well. On the last wall was a counter that had a showcase of various sweets and drinks. As Kikumaru watched, people went to the register, ordered their food, grabbed a book, and sat down to read. There were tables as well to hold any food or drinks to leave the hands to turn pages.

Gaping at the simplicity of it all, Kikumaru marveled the entire store as he followed Sakura to a table. Even when they sat down, he still looked around. Sakura laughed openly at the face he was making and only then did Kikumaru tear his eyes away from the store to stare at Sakura.

"I definitely did not expect this, that's for sure."

"That's what I thought when I first saw it as well. But it's so nice to sit here and unwind from the day." Sakura sighed wistfully as she looked towards the bookcase.

Kikumaru stared thoughtfully at her before laughing, "Never thought you could be nostalgic. Never thought you could read either."

"Oh shut up." Sakura lightly slapped Kikumaru on the arm before ordering something from the menu in front of them. Both teens made light talk for a while before relaxing in the calm atmosphere of the store. That is until Sakura saw a familiar face walking through the door. At first she was hesitant, but when she got a closer look at the person she gasped.

Kikumaru looked up at the sound of the gasp to see Sakura running towards another figure by the entrance. He watched as the girl threw her arms around the person's neck and said person wrapped his arms around her. After a couple of seconds like that, they broke apart from each other and said a couple of words to each other before coming back to the table. It was then that Kikumaru saw the person clearly and recognized him. No one else had maroon/red hair with pink eyes and a piece of gum constantly in his mouth.

"Kikumaru. Surprising seeing you here." Marui Bunta sat down across from Kikumaru and instantly a tense atmosphere pressed down upon the table. Sakura hesitantly sat in between both boys and eyed them carefully.

"Likewise Marui. I'm here cause Sakura-chan brought me here." Marui raised his eyebrows at this. "Did she now? Well did she tell you that I was the one who told her about this place?"

Kikumaru was momentarily stunned as he glanced quickly at Sakura before facing Marui again. "No. No she didn't but that's okay. It's a nice store Marui." Kikumaru smile lightly tried to be polite because it wasn't in his nature to be rude for long periods of time. And he didn't want his face to be stuck in a perpetual frown.

A little taken aback at the smile, Marui blinked his eyes twice before relaxing as well. He wasn't going to willing pick a fight if the other side means no harm. All three people sat in an awkward silence that was broken once when their food arrived. They ate silently for a couple of seconds before Marui turned towards Sakura

"So Sakura, how's the team doing?" Kikumaru frowned slightly at the loss of a suffix before shaking it off. It wasn't his business what other people called Sakura.

Sakura and Bunta kept talking about random stuff and for a second it looked like they were ignoring Kikumaru but every now and then Sakura would turn towards him and ask him questions as well trying to get him to join in. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't stay in the conversation for too long. Kikumaru found out that Sakura and Bunta used to be neighbors before Sakura moved but they still kept in touch.

After a while, Kikumaru felt unusually irritable for reasons he didn't know why. Whenever he saw Sakura laugh or smile at Bunta, he felt his heart tighten and squeeze with anger. He felt betrayed and hurt and had no idea why he felt like this. He did the only thing he could think of right now.

Kikumaru stood up abruptly and put some money down on the table for his share. He gathered his stuff and was about to leave when Sakura called his name.

"Eiji-kun where are you going?" Sakura was turned towards him with a confused face.

"Sorry Sakura-chan. I just remembered that my family and I are going out to eat for dinner tonight. I have to go home to get ready. I'll see you tomorrow." He nodded towards Marui, who nodded back, and all but sprinted out the front door.

"Eiji-kun wait!" Sakura half rose from her seat but Kikumaru was already out the door. Marui looked at Sakura's troubled face.

"It's okay Sakura. He just had to go home that's all." Sakura looked at Marui before looking at the door again. "I know, Bunta-kun. But it's just that he had such a pained expression on his face. I wonder what's wrong. I hope he's okay."

The two tried talking again but Marui failed to keep Sakura's attention because every few seconds she would glance back at the door.

Outside, Kikumaru had ran across the street and stopped so that he could still see the store but no one could see him from inside. He felt weird and strange when he was back in the store and he needed to get out. Even though Bunta was his rival, Kikumaru felt ill feelings towards him for reasons other than tennis. The way he looked at Sakura and pretended he wasn't even there angered him and he felt like lashing out. He didn't like that so he ran. But he knew he couldn't run forever.

The last thing that Kikumaru saw before turning the corner was the name of the store

**All I Need**

{ [ x – X – x – X – x – X – x ] }

Amu, Tezuka, and Fuji walked down the road as quickly as they could to get out of the rain. But seeing as how Tezuka had to carry Ami, it wasn't all that fast.

"I'm really sorry Tezuka-san." Amu said as she shifted the bags she was carrying to a more comfortable position, "You really didn't need to do this."

Tezuka glanced at her before looking forward again, "It's okay."

"Oh turn left here. We need to cross that stoplight over there."

As the three teens stopped, Fuji popped a statement, "You live pretty far away from school."

"Yeah. It was a lot easier for Touya-nii-san." Amu pressed the button to cross the street. "That house was the cheapest he could find after my dad died."

"But since you're so far away, wouldn't it be easier to go to another school?"

"Our house is still within the range of Seigaku and nii-san went there when he was younger so he really wanted us to go there." They paused in their conversation as they crossed the street.

Fuji smiled over at Amu, "You guys really care about your brother, don't you?"

Amu blushed lightly, "Not just that. He's taken such good care of us. We just don't want to cause him any trouble. We owe him that much." she smiled at the two boys. Fuji smiled back while Tezuka nodded. As he did that, he felt Ami stir behind him.

"She's waking up.," he stated. All three of them watched Ami to see her reaction.

Ami's eyes fluttered open and the first thing she registered was that she was staring down at Amu.

"….Amu, when did you get so short?" She questioned stupidly as she rubbed her eyes. Amu's eye twitched as Fuji chuckled.

"I didn't shrink, idiot. You just grew with the help of Tezuka-san." Ami blinked before she finally saw the boy who was carrying her

"Tezuka-san! What are you doing? I can walk on my own!" Ami struggled a little bit before Tezuka tightened his grip on her.

"You fainted."

"But I'm awake now."

"You injured your ankle."

"…."

Fuji and Amu laughed while Ami pouted and turned her head. Because of that she missed the twitching of Tezuka's lips. After this, all four of them engaged in light conversation before Amu pointed out

"Tezuka-san, take a left here. Our house is the third one on the right."

The group stopped in front of a small gate in front of a medium sized house. After Amu opened the gate, they went to the front door and rang the bell. Footsteps could be heard before the door opened up to reveal a tall, young man in his late twenties with disheveled dark brown hair and questioning brown eyes. He stood in the doorway, looking at all four of them before landing his eyes on Amu.

"Who are these boys and why is Ami being carried by one of them?"

"Well you see…" Amu whispered what happened into Touya's ear. Understanding lit his face before turning to Tezuka and Fuji. "Thank you for bringing these two home. I really appreciate it."

"Oh don't worry about it. It was no trouble at all and we had fun, right Tezuka?' Fuji glanced sideways at Tezuka who glared at him while setting Ami down, ignoring the loss of warmth that he felt. Ami bowed to the two boys before hobbling over to the living room and crashing onto the couch. Touya bowed once more to the guys before glancing at Amu.

"I'll be right there," she said. "I'll just show them out."

"Alright" he nodded once before heading inside himself and shutting the door. Amu turned to the boys who were adjusting their bags and umbrellas.

"Really thank you very much. It was a big help." Amu bowed as well before smiling at the two of them.

"It was nothing" Tezuka replied. As an afterthought, he added "Tell Suzuki-san to get better." Before he could fully turn around, Amu's voice floated through his ears.

"Please Tezuka-san, call us by our names. You too Fuji-san." Amu said as she faced the smiling boy, "It gets too confusing if you don't. It'll make life a lot easier."

Fuji's smiled widened a tiny bit and Tezuka's face relaxed a little. "Well then Amu-san, goodnight. And don't forget that there's practice tomorrow morning. Apparently Ryuuzaki-sensei has to make an announcement."

"Thank you Tezuka-san. Goodnight." Amu bowed as the tall boy walked away before she turned around to see Fuji five inches from her face staring directly into her eyes, his own open, lips in a straight line. Amu started back a bit

"F-Fuji-san! What are you doing?" Amu stuttered and blushed bright red

Fuji stared deeper and deeper into Amu's eyes making her really uncomfortable. She had never seen Fuji this serious before and it scared her a little. Finally, Fuji smiled lightly before closing his eyes and backing up. Amu's shoulders noticeably relaxed.

"Your eyes…" Fuji started, "They're actually a light brown, aren't they."

Amu stiffened as she stared at the tensai. There was an uncomfortable silence before Amu parted her lips, "… Yes. Yes they are. I have bad eyesight so I had to get contacts. If I was going to get contacts, I wanted to get colored ones. Is that a problem?"

The last question was clipped and snippy. Fuji could almost see her eyes get guarded after looking so free and open just moments before. Not wanting to get on Amu's bad side (it took him long enough to get to this point in their relationship), Fuji just smiled his enigmatic smile once more.

"No. Not at all. I was just curious a little curious. Though it was very interesting to learn this fact."

Amu stared at the smiling genius some more before nodding and heading towards the door, "Well then goodnight Fuji-san"

"Goodnight Amu-san. See you tomorrow," Fuji waved as he turned around and walked away. Amu stared at his retreating back before heading inside. She leaned against the door as soon as she locked it.

Amu was angry and upset.

She was upset that she was able to keep her secret for so long, but now someone knows other than her siblings. Not even the other girl regulars know. She was angry because Fuji just said all that nonchalantly like he wasn't trying to figure out her true nature.

She didn't like the fact that even if she spends a little time with Fuji, he ends up tearing down all her masks and revealing all her secrets. He teases her, asks questions that throw her off guard, and does things like before that bring out emotions inside of her that she didn't even knew she had. Especially the way he said her name so happily. Acting like he's the only one who gets to call her so intimately….

Amu puts both of her hands on her cheeks and feels that they are burning hot. She convinces herself that it's just the anger that she's feeling.

But she's not as good at lying to herself as she used to be.

{ [ x – X – x – X – x – X – x ] }

"I just had to forget it, didn't I?" Ryoma grumbled as he ran down the road. He stopped under an awning to catch his breath before sprinting again.

Ryoma was almost home when he realized that he forgot his math books in his locker. Normally he would've just done the homework in the morning but he remembered that he had practice in the morning. So he turned around and started running back the way he came.

And here he is now, soaked to the bone, cold, and hungry. And his tennis match against Ami-sempai got cancelled right when it got interesting because of the rain. The same rain that he is stuck in right now.

Let's just say that he is not a happy camper right now.

Ryoma sighed as he ran, thinking about everything that went on today. All of the matches were really intense and it was interesting to see how everyone reacted to the different situations. Towards the end, he was really excited to play against Ami-sempai.

The first couple of games they played were just a warm up to see how the other played. In the last game, neither side backed down and started attacking. Ryoma was up 3-2 but he didn't really feel to good about the score seeing as how Ami-sempai had sprained her ankle a little.

It reminded him of his match against Momo-sempai in middle school. Even though Momo-sempai wasn't playing to his full potential, Ryoma could see the raw power and determination he had behind his shots. Ami-sempai was exactly like that as well.

His thoughts stopped when the school gates entered his field of vision. Stepping up the pace a little, Ryoma ran inside the school. Slowing down to a walk, he went toward his locker and made sure he took everything he needed before walking back outside.

As he passed some windows, he couldn't help but notice a tennis bag under one of the school's various Sakura trees. Curious as to whose bag it was and what they're doing out in this weather, Ryoma took a little detour and headed towards that area.

Ryoma stopped under the tree and looked at the bag. It looked like a girl's bag so Ryoma's curiosity peaked even more. It was then that he heard a faint noise over the roar of the rain.

Ryoma walked around the tree and took a look to his right. There, in all her wet glory, hitting a tennis ball against a wall, was Ryuuzaki Sakuno.

To say he was surprised was an understatement.

Sakuno had her full concentration on the ball and swung her arm like her life depended on it. All of a sudden, she slipped on the mud and went crashing to the ground. Ryoma took a step forward but stopped when Sakuno shakily sat up.

Sakuno put her racket on the ground, closed her eyes, and tipped her head up to the sky. Her ponytail came undone and all of her hair curtained against her back the ends of it bunched on the ground. Even from that distance, Ryoma could see the tears fall down her face, mixed with the rain.

Sakuno turned her head to the side slightly when she heard footsteps come closer and stop right next to her. She opened her eyes and looked at the person towering above her.

"Ryoma-kun."

"Ryuuzaki."

The two stared at each other some more before Ryoma spoke again

"What are you doing in the rain Ryuuzaki? You're going to get sick."

Sakuno looked down at the racket for a second before answering, "I was just practicing."

"That's stupid."

There was a flash of irritation in Sakuno's eyes before it disappeared. Sighing, she said, "You of all people wouldn't understand."

"What wouldn't I understand?"

"I lost Ryoma-kun," Sakuno said with a resigned tone while looking up at him again. "I lost 6-0."

"So what? I've lost before too." Ryoma said as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I didn't get a _single_ point off of him."

Ryoma sighed, "Ryuuzaki, you were going up against Tezuka-buchou. At your level and ability, you wouldn't be able to stand a chance against him."

"But I've trained so hard. I've practiced every single day and worked so hard to finally get a regular's spot. I should've been able to get at least one point off of him."

"No matter how hard you've worked, buchou has years more experience of you. There's only so far you can go on your own."

Sakuno stiffened and she hung her head. The two teens stayed there in an awkward silence until Ryoma took one hand out of his pocket and tilted his cap down.

"Look, I didn't say you don't have a chance. It's just going to take a lot of practice, determination, and effort."

Still looking down, Sakuno whispered back "But Ryoma-kun, if that's all what it took then I would've beaten Tezuka-buchou today or at least come close to it." Ryoma strained his ears to hear Sakuno above the din of the rain.

"I didn't say you were going to do it alone, did I?"

At this, Sakuno's head shot up only for her vision to be blanketed in darkness. A little confused, Sakuno raised her hand to feel what was dropped on her head.

Feeling a familiar shape to it, Sakuno startled when she realized what it was, _'Ryoma-kun's cap?'_

"I'll help you." Ryoma interrupted Sakuno's thoughts, feeling the rain on his head. He didn't even know why he gave her his cap but he felt like it was the right thing to do at the time. Besides, she didn't look too bad with his cap on. It was too big for her head and hung to the side and covered part of her face. But it couldn't hide the surprise written all across face.

"What?" Sakuno was too confused. First Ryoma said that she couldn't beat Tezuka-buchou, and then he said that she could beat him, then he gave her his cap, and now he's willingly giving her tennis lessons. Simple mind function was not coming to poor Sakuno as all she could think of is what is going to happen to her from now on.

"I said that I'd help you practice from now on. Every day after tennis practice, we'll go to the street courts for an hour or so. And on Sunday, we'll practice at the tennis court behind my house. So be prepared Ryuuzaki. I'm a strict teacher."

Sakuno stared open-mouthed at Ryoma, not believing that the tennis prince himself was going to give _her_ lessons. And he wasn't even being forced to do it.

Ryoma started to get annoyed with her staring him like that, "What? Would you rather I didn't do this?"

Sakuno snapped out of her trance and hastily replied, "No, no, not at all! Thank you Ryoma-kun!"

"It's fine."

"No really, thank you so much Ryoma-kun. I really appreciate this." Sakuno smiled softly up at him. Ryoma, who wasn't expecting this, froze as he stared at her. Her hair gathered around Sakuno beautifully and the rain made it stick to her face making her heart-shaped face seem more prominent. Not to mention that his hat tilted on her head made her seem like she was one of his possessions, like she belonged to him and him alone. When Ryoma realized where his thoughts were going, he shook his head to get rid of them.

"Ryoma-kun?"

"It's nothing. I'm fine." Ryoma went and got his stuff and Sakuno's as well. He waited until she put away all her stuff before he started walking away. "Well see ya, Ryuuzaki."

"Wait Ryoma-kun!" Ryoma turned around to see Sakuno running towards his, opening her umbrella at the same time. "Please let me at least walk you home with my umbrella. It's the least I can do to repay you."

Ryoma stared at her, "Ryuuzaki, there's no point. I'm already soaking wet."

Sakuno blushed heavily at her mistake, "Well, this way you won't get wetter than you already are. Please Ryoma-kun, let me do this." Sakuno pleaded with him.

Ryoma saw her pleading puppy dog eyes and instantly caved, "Fine"

Sakuno's face instantly brightened and she fell into step beside him with her umbrella over the both of their heads

Ryoma saw how carefree she acted after giving him those eyes and thought _'God those things can be deadly. She can get whatever she wants with those. Thank the lords that she's too nice to use them.'_

Their walk to Ryoma's house was peaceful with neither of them talking, just enjoying each other's comfort and the sound of the rain against the umbrella. It wasn't a couple of minutes into their walk that Sakuno remembered something that Ryoma had said previously.

"Wait Ryoma-kun, you have a court behind your house? How is that possible? Where do you even live?"

"Mada Made Dane Ryuuzaki."

{ [ x – X – x – X – x – X – x ] }

**I'm despicable, atrocious, abominable, awful, dreadful, painful, terrible, unspeakable, unthinkable, horrible, hopeless, crappy, lousy, rotten, incompetent, unskilled, no-good person who does not deserve any of you. I kept you guys waiting and entire year. ONE YEAR. 365 DAYS. 21900 HOURS. 1314000 MINUTES. 78840000 SECONDS! (that sounds like a lot but it's only in seconds :P)**

**But seriously I don't know what came over me. But just to let you know I am alive but I'm also so very sorry.**

**For those people who were waiting for RyoSaku well there you go. I hope that it satisfies you for now. It was five pages on Word so yeah…**

**For everyone that reviewed, I'm really grateful. And I really hope I didn't disappoint you or make you not wanna read this anymore. It's just that I don't know where I'm going with this story. I'm just thinking of everything as I'm writing. So that's why it's so bad. But hopefully my next fics will be better. Hopefully.**

**Oh and before I forget**

**HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!**


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